Getting their ducks in a row. Reese Witherspoon and Jim Toth had been quietly dividing assets for years before announcing their split.
“Reese has spent the last year preparing for the next chapter,” the industry insider exclusively explained in Us Weekly’s December 2021 issue, noting that the Legally Blonde actress, 47, has been getting her finances in order since late 2020.
While Witherspoon and Toth, 52, announced their breakup on Friday, March 24, the twosome had begun liquidating their joint properties and companies for more than two years.
“They decided their marriage wasn’t going to last forever and that they should have a plan for splitting up their assets that wouldn’t destroy what they built together,” the source explained at the time, noting the estranged spouses methodically executed this plan.
The Sweet Home Alabama star, for example, sold Hello Sunshine — which she cofounded with Seth Rodsky in 2016 — in August 2021 for $900 million. The media company was coowned by Toth.
“Instead of having to split up a huge company with dozens of employees and several divisions, they have a big pile of money — and there’s plenty for everybody,” the insider told Us in December 2021.
The Oscar winner and the talent agent’s assets include multiple properties in both California and Tennessee. In November 2020, Witherspoon sold the pair’s Malibu farmhouse for $6.7 million, according to Dirt.
Two years later, the duo turned a profit on their English Country-style manor located in Los Angeles. The estate sold for $21.5 million, which is more than $5 million more than Witherspoon and Toth paid for the property in March 2020.
In October 2022, news broke that the Morning Show star and the businessman sold their 6-bedroom, 8-bathroom, 8,399-square-foot home in Nashville for $7.35 million.
A separate Malibu property owned by the pair was listed in January. According to Redfin, the house is currently accepting “backup offers.” It was originally listed at $7.6 million. The estranged couple’s newest sale came just two months before they confirmed their split.
“We have some personal news to share … It is with a great deal of care and consideration that we have made the difficult decision to divorce,” the Draper James founder wrote in a joint statement with her estranged husband via Instagram on Friday. “We have enjoyed so many wonderful years together and are moving forward with deep love, kindness and mutual respect for everything we have created together.”
The message, which was shared two days before Witherspoon and Toth’s 12-year anniversary, concluded by asking for fans to “respect our family’s privacy at this time.”
The Wild actress shares son Tennessee, 10, with Toth, whom she wed in March 2011. Witherspoon is also the mother of daughter Ava, 23, and son Deacon, 19, whom she shares with ex-husband Ryan Phillippe. The Cruel Intentions costars split in 2006 and finalized their divorce two years later.
