WIFE SEEKING $6.2B IN DIVORCE WAS BARRED FROM TESTIFYING
A hedge fund mogul’s wife sought $6.2 billion in the Overdeck divorce, then a judge barred her from testifying.
Laura Overdeck wanted 35% of her husband John Overdeck’s stake in the hedge fund Two Sigma when the trial opened Wednesday, August 12, 2026, in a Newark, New Jersey, courtroom, the New York Post reported. Her lawyer valued that share at $6.2 billion.
The lawyer said the request also covered hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds and equal control of the family foundation.
Laura’s camp called the reported $633 million offer “as little as possible.” John Overdeck’s lawyer said he proposed a $723 million tax-free equitable distribution.
The case centered on whether John Overdeck’s Two Sigma stake was a marital asset. The Post reported that the couple married without a prenuptial agreement, and the paper described the fight as the largest contested divorce in New Jersey history.
The judge’s ruling
On August 18, 2026, Judge Bruce Buechler found that Laura Overdeck had “engaged in multiple discovery abuses,” the Post reported.
The findings included accessing her husband’s private computer to photograph his emails with his lawyers, entering his post-office box and deleting evidence from her phone.
The judge barred her from testifying and from calling her own expert witnesses. He also dismissed her divorce complaint as a sanction.
The ruling did not end the money fight. Buechler said “the assets need to be equitably distributed.”
Police were also summoned multiple times to the Short Hills home the couple had shared, Bloomberg reported, citing police reports and body-camera footage.
John Overdeck takes the stand
On August 26, 2026, John Overdeck testified that his proposed $723 million settlement was “fair.” He based that on his compensation from Two Sigma and his stake in the firm.
He also testified that Laura deserved some of the appreciation in his Two Sigma stake, but less than she was seeking.
