What Happened To Kimberly Guilfoyle's Ex-Husband Eric Villency?

When it comes to Kimberly Guilfoyle's ex-husbands, there's no question that Gavin Newsom is the first to come to mind. However, after splitting from her first politically-linked hubby, she moved on fairly quickly with Eric Villency — and though that didn't last too long either, he's remained a part of her life. 

At first glance, Villency may not be as recognizable a last name as Newsom, but Guilfoyle's second husband is pretty high profile. In addition to being the grandson of furniture visionary Maurice Villency, Eric has gone on to make a name for himself. At the time of his marriage to Guilfoyle, Eric was the CEO of Maurice Villency. A year after they split, he went on to start and become the CEO of Villency Design Group. Again, the name might not click right away, but it's a big deal in the design world. On top of interior design projects for the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Delta Airlines, Villency Design Group is also behind the design for the Peloton Bike.  

As for his relationship with Guilfoyle, like we said, it was fairly short-lived. The couple wed in May 2006 and welcomed their son, Ronan Villency, that October. They ultimately split in 2009, but much as was the case with Guilfoyle and Newsom (at least, ahem, until Donald Trump Jr. came along), they stayed super friendly. In a 2015 interview with Mediaite, she explained why it was important for her to get along with her son's father. "Even when people don't stay married, they can still be a family together. ... When you go through divorce with children you don't make it about you, you make it about that child. Eric and I both want a positive environment for our son," she said. Snaps for them!

While we're happy for Eric Villency's successes in business and in co-parenting, not everything has been smooth sailing. On the contrary, between 2016 and 2020, he was locked in a legal battle with Peloton. However, this particular issue seemed to be of his own making. In a nutshell, in 2016, someone at Villency Design Group found out that aspects of their design had already been patented by someone else in 2005. In a supremely shady move, they then started a whole other company to buy that patent ... which went on to sue Peloton for infringement. A whole lot of yikes — and expensive yikeses at that. The presiding judge wasn't impressed by their antics, and the newly set-up company ended up paying more than $5 million to Peloton. 

A few years after the Peloton legal battle, Eric faced another major setback: this time, a serious injury. As he shared in an episode of the "Pop Recovery Systems" podcast, he shattered his tibia while skiing in January 2024. On the off chance you skipped biology class, that's the shin. Eric admitted that recovery had been tough, and he'd had to walk with crutches for a whopping 12 weeks. However, he added that seeing so many patients — in particular young girls involved in horseback riding accidents — in worse-off positions gave him a ton of gratitude. "It could have been way worse. You know, I could have been killed," he said. 

Through it all, it seems as though Eric has stayed close with his family. In 2022, he shared a sweet pic with both his dad and his and Kimberly Guilfoyle's son, Ronan Villency, on Instagram. Speaking of the 'gram, he and Guilfoyle also both follow each other on the platform.