“Don’t get mad, get everything,” was one of Ivana Trump’s iconic phrases when asking his former husband, Donald Trump, for divorce after finding out he was cheating on her with another woman.
After separating in 1976 from the owner of a ski store, George Syrovatka, the Czechoslovakian model and businesswoman started a new life that turned her into a well-known personality when she married the controversial Trump.
Ivana and Donald Trump’s love story
The model and the former president -who was the son of an important real estate businessman- met during the Montreal Olympic Games in New York in 1976, when Ivana was having problems with her previous relationship.
On April 7, 1977, they got married, and Ivana started to be part of the tycoon’s companies, as she had a great ability for business. One year later, Ivana Trump became a U.S. citizen; the couple had three children: Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka, and Eric.
The Controversial Divorce
Ivana Trump discovered that her husband was having an affair with former Georgia beauty queen, Marla Maples; it was then that she decided to separate in 1990, and finally, in 1991, both starred in a controversial and high-profile divorce after 14 years of relationship.
She sued him for the family’s total assets although they eventually reached an agreement in which they managed to reconcile a friendship. Still, she received 25 million dollars in cash, the family mansion located in Connecticut, a million in housing allowance, 5 million dollars a year in alimony for their three children Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Jr., 49% of Mar-a-Lago, the house located in Palm Beach and several expensive jewels. Two years later, in 1993, Donald Trump and his mistress, Marla Maples, were married at the Plaza Hotel in New York.
After consolidating a friendly relationship, Ivana and the politician participated in 1997 in a pizza commercial in which they fought for the last slice and made it very clear that, for both, the business game was what really mattered.
Story originally published in Spanish in Cultura Colectiva
