Latest news with #Geffen
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
David Geffen's Estranged Husband, 32, Requests Spousal Support amid Divorce from Billionaire Music Exec, 82
David Geffen's estranged husband David Armstrong filed a response to the media mogul's divorce filing Armstrong requested spousal support and more A court order gave each party 60 days to share their financial informationDavid Geffen's estranged husband David Armstrong has filed his response to the billionaire's divorce filing, which came earlier this month after nearly two years of marriage. Armstrong, 32, requested spousal support from Geffen, 82, as well as attorney's fees and costs and 'all other relief the Court deems just and proper,' according to documents filed on Tuesday, May 27 and obtained by PEOPLE. Geffen — who is worth $8.7 billion, according to Forbes — filed for divorce on May 16, citing irreconcilable differences. He listed the couple's date of separation as Feb. 22, though Armstrong said their split date was 'TBD' in his response. They were married on March 7, 2023. Geffen's initial filing indicated that he would pay Armstrong's spousal support and attorney's fees. Both filings stated that 'the exact nature and extent of separate property assets and obligations are unknown at this time,' and both parties reserve their right to amend their filings once the information has been ascertained. A court order was issued on May 27 that requires both Geffen and Armstrong (a model and dancer who also goes by the name Donovan Michaels) to share their financial information, including statements, valuations, important facts and access to records about all current income and expenses and community and separate property assets and debts. Each party has 60 days after filing to complete the court order. Geffen, who is now retired, rose to fame as the co-founder and founder of a number of record labels, including Asylum Records, Geffen Records and DGC Records. In 1996, he also co-founded DreamWorks Animation with Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg. Much of his income consists of stocks and equities in property, and California law states that dividends from stocks remain separate, meaning Armstrong likely will not walk away with much cash, TMZ reported. State law also requires divorce petitioners to pay spousal support for half the length of the marriage, meaning Armstrong will likely receive payments for one year. Geffen dated Cher for a year and a half in the early 1970s, and came out as gay in 1992. He and Armstrong largely kept their relationship out of the public eye, though the media mogul did share a now-deleted photo of the pair on a boat in December 2021. 'Merry Christmas indeed!' he captioned the Instagram photo. Read the original article on People
The Star
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
82YO billionaire David Geffen divorcing 32-year-old husband with no prenup
David Geffen (left) was private about his relationship with David Armstrong, though according to People he did share the occasional photo of the two on Instagram. Photo: David Geffen/Instagram Retired music mogul David Geffen has filed for divorce from his dancer husband a month shy of the two-year mark of a marriage with no prenuptial agreement. The 82-year-old billionaire will pay a year of spousal support — half the length of the marriage, as required by California law — to soon-to-be ex David Armstrong, whose stage name is Donovan Michaels, according to the filing obtained by TMZ and People . While there was no prenup, Geffen's main source of income is stocks and other equities, which are considered separate property under California law, and thus so are the dividends, according to TMZ, which first reported on the split. Geffen attributed the breakup to 'irreconcilable differences,' People reported, citing the petition filed May 16 in Los Angeles. They officially separated on Feb 22. High-profile celebrity lawyer Laura Wasser, who has shepherded the likes of Kim Kardashian, Kevin Costner and Ariana Grande through their respective breakups, is representing Geffen. Known as the 'divorce lawyer to the stars,' and dubbed the Disso Queen, Wasser has also overseen the divorces of Jennifer Garner, Angelina Jolie and Britney Spears. Geffen, who came out as gay in 1992, was private about his relationship with Armstrong, a 32-year-old go-go dancer, though according to People he did share the occasional photo of the two on Instagram. A December 2021 snap of him and Armstrong aboard the mogul's US$400mil yacht Rising Sun has since been deleted, People noted. The former record exec, currently worth at least US$8.7bil, founded three labels — Asylum Records, Geffen Records and DGC Records — and co-founded the DreamWorks SKG film studio. The Brooklyn-born Geffen is also known for his US$100mil contribution to the US$550mil renovation of what was formerly Avery Fisher Hall, renamed David Geffen Hall. The renovated space debuted as the new home of the New York Philharmonic when it emerged from a two-year makeover in 2022. – New York Daily News/Tribune News Service
IOL News
12-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Exploring the surge of co-living spaces and micro-apartments in South Africa's major cities
During the six months leading up to August 2024, Balwin Properties, an apartment developer, encountered difficult trading conditions within the residential property market as a result of high interest rates. Image: Supplied Is the rapid rise of co-living spaces and micro-apartments in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban an innovative urban adaptation, or merely a symptom of the country's broken economy? Yael Geffen, CEO of Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty, poses this question. This is as developers are aggressively repurposing underutilised buildings into shared living hubs where tenants trade private space for affordability and community. In Cape Town's Woodstock and Johannesburg's Braamfontein, companies like The Student Hub and CoLiv report waiting lists for their R6 500 to R8 000 per month rooms that include servicing and WiFi. Geffen said this is a necessary market correction right now when consumers are drowning in debt, and the vast majority are battling to keep their heads above water. 'For most young professionals, buying a home is an impossible dream at the moment, with the cost of living remaining so high. They're even being priced out of conventional rentals, but they still need proximity to urban work hubs. Co-living fills that gap intelligently by optimising space and reducing costs through shared amenities,' Geffen said. Siphamandla Mkhwanazi, a senior economist, recently told this publication that a city like Pretoria occupies a unique position within the broader South African property sector. He said it benefits its status as the administrative capital, providing stability and a consistent demand for housing. He added others included a diverse economy, encompassing government, education, and research institutions, relatively more affordable/value for money property options compared to other major cities, attracting a range of buyers and renters and was also seeing a growth in the student rental market, due to the large amount of tertiary education institutions in the city. Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty said sub-30m² micro-units, never thought of in South Africa's historically spacious housing market, are now said to be selling out in developments like Cape Town's 1 on Albert in Woodstock and Sandton's The Bryant. Prices start at 20% below standard studios, appealing to singles who prioritise location over square metres. Geffen said the success of micro-apartments proves that in the current economic climate, affordability trumps size for many buyers. 'But developers must innovate-think modular furniture, premium finishes, and tech integration-to avoid these feeling like glorified hotel rooms." She says Cape Town's developments tend to be the most successful in the country at the moment, because the market thrives on scarcity. 'Developers convert heritage buildings into chic spaces, achieving an average of 22% gross margins - nearly double Johannesburg's conversions.' Others are new developments like 1 on Albert, offering semi-furnished micro-apartments starting at 21m² that include 24 hour security & CCTV surveillance, biometric access controls, a heated swimming pool, communal recreation area with braai facilities and super-fast internet connectivity. Prices at this state-of-the-art development that is less than 2km from the CBD begin at below R1 million. Despite the buzz, challenges loom, warned Geffen. These include investor scepticism as banks remain hesitant to finance micro-developments, seeing them as untested. Cultural resistance as many South Africans still view compact living as a downgrade and oversupply risks as Durban's Umhlanga corridor already shows signs of co-living saturation. 'The danger is that we mistake a stopgap solution for a cure. Co-living can't replace the need for broader housing reform, including faster planning approvals and incentives for mid-income developments.' Geffen said industry leaders are split on whether this trend will last. While some predict co-living will grow to 15% of South Africa's urban rental market by 2030, others argue it is merely delaying a reckoning with unaffordability. 'The real test is whether these models can evolve beyond student and young professional niches to serve families and older demographics. That's when we'll know if this is truly transformative or just a Band-Aid,' added Geffen Geffen noted key market questions going forward include whether local government entities will relax density restrictions in a greater number of suburbs to enable more micro developments, whether these developments will be the turning point for inner city decay and whether more relaxed density zoning in wider areas will make it more affordable for buyers to get onto the property ladder. 'South Africa's housing crisis won't be solved by one solution alone. 'This trend isn't a total fix, but for now, co-living and micro-apartments are to some extent rewriting the rules of urban residential design and offering a solution to younger professionals struggling to make ends meet with the immensely high cost of living in the country's stagnant economy,' Geffen said. Today's savvy buyers are said to be embracing starter homes like one or two bedrooms, a single bathroom, and enough room to live well without the stress of major upkeep. According to Jonathan Spencer from these homes typically range from 70m² to 116m², offering the perfect blend of comfort, affordability and personal style potential. 'Starter homes are the ideal launchpad for new homeowners. They tick all the essential boxes without overwhelming you financially. Plus, there's more room in your budget to create a space that really feels like you,' Spencer said. Independent Media Property
Straits Times
12-05-2025
- Business
- Straits Times
Billionaire art collectors fight over Giacometti sculpture The Nose
Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun and American entertainment executive David Geffen are each claiming to be the rightful owner of Alberto Giacometti's 'Le Nez' (The Nose, above). PHOTO: FONDATION ALBERTO ET ANNETTE GIACOMETTI, PARIS NEW YORK - Billionaire art collectors rarely air their deals or dirty laundry out in public. But a battle between a pair of boldfaced names over a Giacometti sculpture is now playing out in the open, shining a rare light on a global market featuring unlicensed agents, multimillion-dollar handshake deals and pervasive secrecy. Chinese crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, 34, and American entertainment executive David Geffen, 82, are slinging written accusations at each other in federal court in New York, each claiming to be the rightful owner of Alberto Giacometti's 'Le Nez' (The Nose). Along a trail stretching from New York to Singapore to Paris and back to the United States, Mr Sun says there sculpture was secretly sold by a dishonest adviser and sued for its return from Mr Geffen, who recently struck back, accusing Mr Sun of devising an elaborate fraud because he regrets the sale. Adding to the tangle is an agent who might or might not be to blame, and might or might not be in a Chinese detention center. At a 2021 auction in New York, Mr Sun, who founded the crypto platform Tron in Singapore, paid US$78.4 million (S$101.7 million) for Le Nez, a mid-century work of bronze, steel and iron depicting a head, suspended in an open cage and boasting a very long nose. Mr Geffen, who is the founder of Geffen Records, in turn, bought the sculpture in 2024 while it was on loan to the Giacometti Institute in Paris. But in early 2025, Mr Sun sued, alleging that an adviser who sold it to Mr Geffen, for US$10.5 million and two unnamed paintings, had done so without his permission, forging documents and inventing a nonexistent Chinese lawyer to make the deal. The accused adviser was publicly connected with Mr Sun and his art purchases for years and spoke about advising him on his bid for the Giacometti and other pieces. In April, Mr Geffen sued Mr Sun, accusing him of concocting a 'sham' story about his adviser making an illegitimate sale. In reality, he charged, Mr Sun had 'seller's remorse' after trying to sell the paintings included in the deal, but finding they did not fetch offers as high as he had hoped. Mr Sun's lawyers fired the latest salvo on May 7, telling the court that Mr Geffen is 'completely misguided' and should actually be suing the adviser, who they say has been detained in China since February 'in connection with her confessed fraud and theft' – a claim that could not be independently verified. A lawyer for Mr Sun, Mr William Charron, said in an email that Mr Geffen's claims are 'desperate and bizarre' and that he is clinging to a 'fiction' that the adviser is not a thief. Whether there was really a theft is crucial, but will not necessarily decide the case, art lawyers say. If the adviser transferred the sculpture without authority, Mr Sun could be named the rightful owner. Or Mr Geffen could keep the sculpture if his reliance on her representations was reasonable. 'I've been in the art world for decades and I've seen so many shady deals. It's a business like nothing else,' said Mr Joshua Kaufman, an art lawyer in Washington, D.C. 'Either side's version could be true.' There are many facts in dispute and Mr Sun's case faces an 'uphill battle,' said Ms Jana Farmer, an art lawyer in New York. The claims and counterclaims fill hundreds of pages, and the gaps between the billionaires' accounts are vast. Mr Sun says his adviser was a freelancer perpetrating an 'elaborate ruse.' Mr Geffen contends that Mr Sun has been trying to delete text messages and evidence on the internet. Practically the only thing they appear to agree on is that the paintings traded in the 2024 deal are not to be publicly identified. The secrecy is most likely to avoid tainting the paintings' value with the fight over the sculpture, experts say. Mr Sun is no stranger to controversy, in the art world and beyond. He made waves in 2024 with his US$6.2 million purchase of a conceptual piece consisting of a banana taped to a wall, and prides himself on challenging traditional notions of value. In 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused him and Tron of fraudulently inflating the price of their crypto tokens. Mr Sun drew criticism for spending US$75 million in late 2024 on crypto tokens linked to Mr Donald Trump in what was seen as an effort to influence the incoming president to abandon the case, which he denied. The case was stayed by a judge at the government's request in 2025. Mr Geffen is a major collector who began buying art before Mr Sun was born. The case against him by Mr Sun challenges Mr Geffen's ownership of Le Nez and his 'great standing' as a savvy collector, Ms Farmer said, 'and tries to put his reputation on the line.' She said she thinks the billionaire collectors will ultimately settle their unusually public dispute. If so, it could be only a brief glimpse into a mystery-shrouded business before the shades are drawn again. NYTIMES Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Zawya
01-05-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Urban innovation or economic despair? The rise of co-living in South Africa
With interest rates still close to the highest in more than a decade and city-centre rents climbing relentlessly, young South African professionals are being forced to rethink traditional housing. Lew Geffen Sotheby's International Realty chief executive officer Yael Geffen says the rapid rise of co-living spaces and micro-apartments in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban has sparked a heated debate: Is this innovative urban adaptation, or merely a symptom of the country's broken economy? The co-living revolution: Affordable or compromised living? Developers are aggressively repurposing underutilised buildings into a shared living hub where tenants trade private space for affordability and community. In Cape Town's Woodstock and Johannesburg's Braamfontein, companies like The Student Hub and CoLiv report waiting lists for their R6,500 to R8,000 per month rooms that include servicing and WiFi. 'This is a necessary market correction right now when consumers are drowning in debt and the vast majority are battling to keep heads above water,' says Geffen. 'For most young professionals buying a home is an impossible dream at the moment with the cost of living remaining so high. In fact, they're even being priced out of conventional rentals, but they still need proximity to urban work hubs. 'Co-living fills that gap intelligently by optimising space and reducing costs through shared amenities.' Micro-apartments: Big demand for tiny spaces Sub-30m² micro-units – once unthinkable in South Africa's historically spacious housing market – are now selling out in developments like Cape Town's 1 on Albert in Woodstock and Sandton's The Bryant. Prices start at 20% below standard studios, appealing to singles who prioritise location over square metres. Geffen notes: 'The success of micro-apartments proves that in the current economic climate affordability trumps size for many buyers. But developers must innovate – think modular furniture, premium finishes, and tech integration – to avoid these feeling like glorified hotel rooms." She says Cape Town's developments tend to be the most successful in the country at the moment, because the market thrives on scarcity. 'Developers convert heritage buildings into chic spaces, achieving an average of 22% gross margins - nearly double Johannesburg's conversions.' Others are new developments like 1 on Albert, offering semi-furnished micro-apartments starting at 21m² that include 24-hour security & CCTV surveillance, biometric access controls, a heated swimming pool, communal recreation area with braai facilities and super-fast internet connectivity. Prices at this state-of-the-art development that is less than 2km from the CBD begin at below R1m. The risks: Will this model last? Despite the buzz challenges loom, warns Geffen. These include: Investor scepticism: Banks remain hesitant to finance micro-developments, seeing them as untested. Cultural resistance: Many South Africans still view compact living as a downgrade. Oversupply risks: Durban's Umhlanga corridor already shows signs of co-living saturation. 'The danger,' warns Geffen, 'is that we mistake a stopgap solution for a cure. Co-living can't replace the need for broader housing reform, including faster planning approvals and incentives for mid-income developments.' Temporary fix or future norm? Geffen says industry leaders are split on whether this trend will last. While some predict co-living will grow to 15% of South Africa's urban rental market by 2030, others argue it's merely delaying a reckoning with unaffordability. 'The real test,' says Geffen, 'is whether these models can evolve beyond student and young professional niches to serve families and older demographics. That's when we'll know if this is truly transformative or just a Band-Aid.' Geffen says key market questions going forward include whether local government entities will relax density restrictions in a greater number of suburbs to enable more micro developments, whether these developments will be the turning point for inner-city decay and whether more relaxed density zoning in wider areas will make it more affordable for buyers to get onto the property ladder. 'South Africa's housing crisis won't be solved by one solution alone. 'This trend isn't a total fix, but for now, co-living and micro-apartments are to some extent rewriting the rules of urban residential design and offering a solution to younger professionals struggling to make ends meet with the immensely high cost of living in the country's stagnant economy.'
