The billionaire co-founder of international DIY chain Home Depot has been served with divorce papers, according to report on celebrity site TMZ.
Arthur Blank, majority owner of the Atlanta Falcons American football team, separated from wife Stephanie in 2011 and she has now filed for divorce in Fulton County, Georgia, the site reports.
The couple were married for 16 years. At the time of the original split, a statement issued by Blank’s charity, the Arthur M Blank Family Foundation, insisted the couple would “remain great friends”.
They were, it said, “committed to working together to parent their three wonderful children”.
It added: “This is a sad and difficult time for Arthur, Stephanie and their family.”
Blank, now 70, co-founded Home Depot in Marietta, Georgia, in 1978. after losing his job with the now defunct Daylin Corporation. It is now the largest DIY retailer in the US. Blank is also an active philanthropist. He has donated large sums to charity and has pledged to give away at least 50 per cent of his wealth.
Stephanie is 25 years younger than her former husband.
Being cynical and looking ahead, I think Divorce lawyers could make a neat sideline matching financially equal partners together once the whole concept of marriage or marriage 2.0 in the West breaks down completely.