The estranged wife of a billionaire hedge fund executive who turned down a $633 million divorce settlement has been prohibited from testifying after a judge found she improperly accessed her husband’s private emails.
John Overdeck and Laura Overdeck, both 56, were in New Jersey Family Court last week as proceedings opened in what is believed to be the largest contested divorce case in the state’s history.
John, a hedge fund mogul whose net worth is estimated by Forbes at $8 billion, is expected to testify today after the judge determined that Laura had “engaged in multiple discovery abuses,” according to the New York Post.
The court was told that Laura gained access to John’s personal computer and used her phone to photograph confidential emails exchanged between the billionaire and his attorneys.
Although a court order directed her to surrender the phone, Laura failed to hand it over for “at least 13 months,” Judge Bruce Buechler said.
By the time the device was eventually produced, the images of the privileged legal communications had been erased. Laura allegedly said she deleted photos because her phone was running out of storage space.
The judge also said Laura persuaded postal workers to give her an additional key to John’s P.O. box, allowing her to “access the mail in that box.” She has not revealed whether she removed anything from it.
As a result, Buechler imposed what he described as the “ultimate sanction,” dismissing Laura’s divorce complaint.
John and Laura Overdeck, both 56, are facing off in the largest contested divorce in New Jersey history. John is set to testify today, but Laura has been barred from taking the stand
New Jersey Family Court Judge Bruce Buechler, in what he has called the ‘ultimate sanction,’ dismissed Laura’s divorce complaint and barred her from presenting any affirmative evidence in the case
This means she is barred from presenting any affirmative evidence in the case, testifying in support of her claim or calling experts to the stand, the Post reported.
Laura’s lawyers will instead need to grill John during cross examination to make their case.
Buechler, in his ruling, did note that the couple’s ‘assets need to be equitably distributed.’
In their opening statements, Laura’s lawyers claimed that John had ‘methodically and strategically’ tried for decades to secure his own wealth in case of a divorce.
They claimed that he ‘schemed’ to leave her with as little as possible in the split, an amount they claimed was $633 million.
His lawyers said that John was now prepared to hand over $723 million in tax-free cash to Laura.
The main sticking point between the two is over whether Laura is entitled to an even bigger sum tied to the value of John’s firm Two Sigma.
She is seeking 35 percent of the value of his stake in the firm, which according to her lawyer would be worth $6.2 billion. His lawyers claimed it equated to $4.9 billion.
His lawyers have said that the firm is not a marital asset while adding that it was founded two years before they wed in 2002.
John has an estimated net worth of $8 billion according to Forbes, he and his estranged wife lived in a $4 million New Jersey mansion
Lawyers for Laura claimed that as well as managing the firm with his partner, John also ‘worked tirelessly’ to hide assets from his wife
John’s lawyer Jonathan Wolfe said: ‘The company had done substantial work and managed hundreds of millions of dollars before the parties’ marriage.’
Her lawyer Therese Lyons countered that the company was just a ‘concept’ then and that it only started trading after they were wed.
The company grew exponentially during their marriage, with John testifying last Wednesday that he had grown it from under $1 billion in 2001 to now $80 billion.
Lyons claimed that as well as managing the firm with his partner he also ‘worked tirelessly’ to hide assets from his wife.
She accused him of ‘planning his escape’ during their marriage, and accused him of a ‘scheme’ to strip billions out of their marital estate.
Wolfe said that John earned $685 million during their marriage, all of which was held in a joint bank account. Prior to their marriage, John had already made billions, he added.
Prior to co-founding Two Sigma with David Siegel, he had worked at DE Shaw & Co, an investment firm, and also helped Jeff Bezos launch Amazon.
Wolfe said that John’s offer to his estranged wife was ‘more than enough to meet the needs of the parties’ marital lifestyle’.
The New York City headquarters for Two Sigma, which John co-founded with David Siegel
The couple alongside the Governor of Maryland Wes Moore in 2019
Laura is also now seeking hundreds of millions in treasury bonds that are held in a trust, as well as a court order handing her equal control of their family foundation.
Failing that order, her lawyers have asked the court to have John give 50 percent of the value of their foundation to a charity of her choosing.
According to a tax filing in 2024 seen by Bloomberg, their family foundation has assets in it totaling $920 million.
Laura holds a degree in astrophysics from Princeton University and an MBA from the Wharton School of Business.
She also founded and oversees a nonprofit called Bedtime Math that helps parents teach math to their kids.
