Kerkorian suing ex-wife for damages

Simon Avery

Monday, Jan. 21, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

LOS ANGELES -- Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian is seeking the reversal of his multimillion-dollar divorce settlement, as well as damages from his ex-wife for revealing details about their private life in her fight for child support payments.

Lisa Bonder Kerkorian's recent, highly publicized claim for monthly child support of $320,000 violates six different agreements she signed between 1997 and 2000 to keep details of Kerkorian's personal finances private, the studio and casino mogul's attorney said Friday.

As a result, Kerkorian's legal team filed papers Friday in Superior Court in Santa Monica, said attorney Terry Christensen.

Kerkorian will respond to his former wife's claim itself in a separate legal filling some time next week, the attorney added.

Christensen wouldn't discuss the damage amount Kerkorian is seeking. Harlee Gasmer, one of Lisa Bonder Kerkorian's lawyers, said it was not specified in Friday's filing.

Gasmer called the filing "sour grapes" and said it was part of an ongoing pattern of intimidation by the billionaire that had forced her client to file for the amended child support in the first place.

Gasmer, a partner with the Beverly Hills firm Kolodny & Anteau, also denied that Lisa Kerkorian had broken any legal agreements with her husband.

"The pleading was carefully drawn to present only the evidence necessary to prepare Mrs. Kerkorian's case," Gasmer said.

Earlier this month Lisa Kerkorian said she would need $320,000 a month in child support to keep her 3-year-old daughter, Kira, living in the style to which she'd grown accustomed.

That included $144,000 for travel; $14,000 for parties and play dates; $7,000 for charity; $4,300 for food, plus $5,900 to eat out; $2,500 for movies, theaters and outings; $1,400 for laundry and cleaning; $1,000 for toys, videos and books; and $436 for care of Kira's bunny and other pets.

"I am unable to remotely provide any aspect of the lifestyle that Kirk established for Kira," Kerkorian, who is a multimillionaire herself, said in a court document.

The 36-year-old former tennis pro was married to the 84-year-old studio and casino mogul for a month in 1999. The two also had a 10-year romantic relationship, which Lisa Kerkorian said ended when she saw her ex-husband with another woman in August 2000.

Kirk Kerkorian is the majority shareholder of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios and MGM MIRAGE, which owns several casino resorts in Las Vegas, Biloxi, Miss., and Detroit. He is also one of the largest individual shareholders of DaimlerChrysler. Forbes magazine ranks him as the 46th richest person in the world with an estimated fortune of $6.5 billion.