Arthur Blank, the owner of the Atlanta Falcons and the billionaire co-founder of Home Depot, has been served divorce papers by his wife.
Accursing to reports from TMZ.com, Blank has been estranged from his wife since October 2011 and the now divorce is the next move. The report says that the two were together for 16 years and that they have three children. Blank's wife, who is 25 years younger than him, filed the papers in Fulton County, Georgia.
According to the papers, Blank's wife Stephanie claims the union has been "irretrievably broken" and that the two have already hammered out a settlement that covers money, custody and property. There were no details about the possible amount of money,. But since Blank is an NFL owner and a billionaire, chances are it will be sizeable.
According to TMZ the secret divorce deal covers all areas including the couple's Buckhead home.
When the two originally split up, the couple had released a joint statement saying they "remain great friends and are committed to working together to parent their three wonderful children." A statement released via The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation at the time said: "They are also both as committed as ever to their philanthropic work and business enterprises in the community."
According to the report the couple have also drafted a "comprehensive parenting plan" to ensure they are both involved in raising their three school-age children - a teenage boy and two younger boy-girl twins.
From the Daily Mail: "According to her LinkedIn page Stephanie Blank is still heavily involved in the area, chairing the Early Education Alliance for Ready Students and acting as a member of the Georgia State Advisory Council on Early Childhood Education."
Blank has been a major philanthropic force in the area and has given out over $250 million during his career. He has also signed The Giving Pledge, vowing to give away a least 50 per cent of his wealth to charity.
There was news last week about the Falcons possibly moving to California to be the new team ion Los Angeles, with some city council members in the area looking into business interests on the West coast.
According to My Fox 5 in Atlanta,
"Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is warning city council members about business interests in Los Angeles who want to move the Falcons to the west coast....Two council members who met with Mayor Kasim Reed told FOX 5's Morse Diggs about private discussions the mayor hosted at City Hall."
The Jaguars have been named as the most likely franchise to move considering their small city size and low attendance numbers, but so far things have not moved in that direction. Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times spoke with NFL vice president of business operations Eric Grubman about the issues in bringing a team to the city, saying:
"We solved a couple of the key issues that we thought were major impediments, but some others have cropped up. We're still of a mindset to return to Los Angeles, if we can do it in a way that makes us sure that we're going to have great success," Grubman said.
The Falcons were one of the best teams in football this season, going 13-3 to take the number one seed in the NFC. The team won its first playoff game under Matt Ryan, but lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship game.
