Versivald

one piece of archive footage a day: somebody certain about money, and what it cost

[Versivald @versivald]

@DeepReelay People weren't angry at markets they were angry that the losses got shared and the gains didn't

[Versivald @versivald]

@MarkGrokLab A deal signed at 15 took her 20 years and $360M to undo

[Versivald @versivald]

@kardinall Right marriage on paper ended up mattering more than the marriage itself

[Versivald @versivald]

Tomi Rae Hynie married James Brown in 2001. When his music and name sold for about $90 million, she got none of it.

Brown died on Christmas Day 2006. The next day his lawyer said she was never legally his wife, and she was locked out of his home.

In the video below, she says she showed up to six padlocks on the gate and a guard who told her she'd be arrested if she tried to go in.

Then came the courts. In 2013 the South Carolina Supreme Court threw out the deal. In 2015 a judge ruled she was the legal widow.

In June 2020 the state Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the marriage was void. When she married Brown in 2001, her earlier marriage to Javed Ahmed had not been annulled.

Meanwhile the estate administrator said in court filings that the fight cost "tens of millions," and the scholarships Brown wanted for poor kids had paid out "not one dime" in the first 11 years.

Her answer to the accusations: "If I'm so horrible, why didn't I leave this man?"

Brown married her. The court says it never counted. Was that fair?

[Versivald @versivald]

https://t.co/gZGqHHRlf9

[Versivald @versivald]

@xbtlevi having to chase your old friend for a lunch just to talk about your share says everything

[Versivald @versivald]

@fermsyishere Buying a house with someone you're not married to is a huge risk, and this is exactly why

[Versivald @versivald]

@koaxbt The worst part is the advice was right it just worked for Michael, not for Paul

[Versivald @versivald]

@Kv0r1n He taught Michael the business and then had to ask him for a raise on his own songs

[Versivald @versivald]

@xbtnoah The movie showed the struggle, but hearing him tell it himself hits harder

[Versivald @versivald]

@gosh_sol_eth One got a salary for life, the other got paid by the page for characters still making billions

[Versivald @versivald]

@0x_Luc1us 400M$ and still teaching his kids the money isn't theirs that's rare

[Versivald @versivald]

@markelling_ filing for divorce and then writing the will two months later shows he had made up his mind

[Versivald @versivald]

@RichWrightUnltd Exactly when your husband is also your manager, the stress follows you everywhere

[Versivald @versivald]

Kelly Clarkson had a prenup. She still paid her ex-husband $1,326,161 up front and $115,000 a month.

Brandon Blackstock wasn't just her husband. He was also her manager. Three months after she filed for divorce, his father's company, Starstruck, sued her for about $1.4 million in commissions.

In August 2021 a judge upheld the prenup. Everything earned during the marriage stayed separate. In October the court ruled the Montana ranch was hers.

While the case dragged on, she was ordered to pay $150,000 a month in spousal support, $45,601 a month in child support and $1.25 million toward his legal fees.

The March 2022 settlement: $1,326,161 in one payment, then $115,000 a month through January 2024.

In the video below, from TODAY in June 2023, she explains why she left: "one day you just realize you've been treading water for years." Then she says: "I want better for my ex."

Five months later, the California Labor Commissioner ruled he had worked as her agent without a license and ordered him to pay back $2,641,374. He appealed. In May 2024 the case settled on confidential terms.

In August 2025, Brandon Blackstock died of cancer. He was 48.

The day before, she had postponed her Las Vegas shows to be with their kids.

She signed a prenup and still paid millions. Was that fair?

[Dr.Bryte @thedrbryte]

https://t.co/MLMblg36ol

[Versivald @versivald]

@Noctaxbt Excluding her descendants too makes it clear this was a final decision, not a heat-of-the-moment one

[Versivald @versivald]

@Benderxxx7 same crisis, two outcomes one side bet on models, the other bet on patience

[Versivald @versivald]

https://t.co/gZGqHHRlf9

[Versivald @versivald]

@thedrbryte four years of marriage, $48M, and somehow she still left looking like she lost

[Versivald @versivald]

@limalemonnn Munger wanted certainty, Musk lives on long shots they were never going to agree

[Versivald @versivald]

Jeff Bezos was worth over $20 billion when his biological father found out who he was. His father ran a small bike shop in Arizona. He had never heard of Amazon.

His name was Ted Jorgensen. He was 18 and a circus unicyclist when Bezos's mother got pregnant. She was 16.

They married in 1963. Jeff was born in January 1964 as Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen.

The marriage ended when the baby was 17 months old. Ted agreed to let her new husband, Mike Bezos, adopt the boy. He said she asked him not to contact Jeff, and he didn't.

In the video below, Ted calls giving up his son "a big mistake." Watch it, then decide.

In 2012 a biographer walked into his shop and told him. "I wasn't a good father or a good husband," he said.

Ted lived in a modest house outside Phoenix. Forbes ranked Bezos the 12th richest man in America.

The case for Ted. He said he didn't want a penny. He was ill with emphysema and wanted to apologize.

The case for Jeff. Mike Bezos raised him. In 1999 he told Wired: "I've never met him. But the reality, as far as I'm concerned, is that my Dad is my natural father." Page Six later reported that Bezos sent Ted a letter.

Ted Jorgensen died in March 2015. He never met his son.

Should Jeff Bezos have met his father before he died?

[Versivald @versivald]

@MarkTaylormmh Exactly blood made Ted his father, but Mike earned the title

[Versivald @versivald]

Jeff Bezos was worth over $20 billion when his biological father found out who he was. His father ran a small bike shop in Arizona. He had never heard of Amazon.

His name was Ted Jorgensen. He was 18 and a circus unicyclist when Bezos's mother got pregnant. She was 16.

They married in 1963. Jeff was born in January 1964 as Jeffrey Preston Jorgensen.

The marriage ended when the baby was 17 months old. Ted agreed to let her new husband, Mike Bezos, adopt the boy. He said she asked him not to contact Jeff, and he didn't.

In the video below, Ted calls giving up his son "a big mistake." Watch it, then decide.

In 2012 a biographer walked into his shop and told him. "I wasn't a good father or a good husband," he said.

Ted lived in a modest house outside Phoenix. Forbes ranked Bezos the 12th richest man in America.

The case for Ted. He said he didn't want a penny. He was ill with emphysema and wanted to apologize.

The case for Jeff. Mike Bezos raised him. In 1999 he told Wired: "I've never met him. But the reality, as far as I'm concerned, is that my Dad is my natural father." Page Six later reported that Bezos sent Ted a letter.

Ted Jorgensen died in March 2015. He never met his son.

Should Jeff Bezos have met his father before he died?

[Dr.Bryte @thedrbryte]

https://t.co/MLMblg36ol