Kardashianomics 101: The Art of Marital Monetization

Celebrity marriages have always been similar to the weather: if you dont like the current spouse, just wait a little while.

But the advent of multiple media platforms has accelerated the process, largely due to changes in the incentive structure. Yesterday's announcement that an otherwise unremarkable reality television personality was divorcing her professional basketball player husband after 72 days of wedded bliss probably surprised no one.

What is noteworthy is the financial framework constructed to arrange, publicize, commercialize and secure a return from the event. It appears to have been a scrupulously scripted scenario. Prior to settling on the NBA player who became her husband, the erstwhile bride dated other athletes, one prominent football player in particular, in what was evidently an audition for a male lead who would help generate optimal audience numbers.

Once the starring roles had been set, every element of the nuptial journey, from engagement to honeymoon was auctioned to the highest bidder. Ultimately, the happy couple earned approximately $18 million for their two month-plus commitment. One marvels at what sort of return on investment calculations the various advertisers and underwriters conducted - and then realized from this effort - especially in an era of tight budgets and strained resources.

There are those who may be appalled at the moral or ethical implications of this. But we leave that to the contemplation of philosophes. We are more interested in what they got for the rights to the divorce proceedings. JL

Catherine Rampell reports in the Economix blog:

There are lots of reasons why marriage can be a good financial investment, including that marriage correlates with higher lifetime earnings. But of course for one (soon to be former) celebrity couple — Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries — the payoff is much quicker, without that whole till-death-do-we-part commitment.
Ms. Kardashian, a reality TV persona, and Kris Humphries, a New Jersey Nets basketball player, were paid $17.9 million for media coverage and other promotional events related to their Aug. 20, 2011 wedding. Per The New York Post, these payments included:

* $15 million for four-hour, two-part wedding special on E!
* $2.5 million for exclusive photos with People magazine
* $300,000 for an exclusive engagement announcement with People
* $100,000 for exclusive rights to a bridal shower with Britain’s OK! mag
* $50,000 to have a bachelorette party at Tao in Las Vegas

And that’s not even including the in-kind payments they received, including $400,000 worth of Perrier Jouet Champagne and three $20,000 Vera Wang gowns.

Alas, on Monday the newlyweds announced their decision to divorce, 72 days after the wedding. As my colleague Don Van Natta Jr. points out, that comes to $10,358.80 per hour (or $5,179.40 each if split evenly, though I haven’t see the prenup).

Not a bad business to be in. I’m guessing that selling the publicity rights to the divorce hearings might be even more lucrative.