Jean Peters & Howard Hughes: The Million-Dollar Divorce

The Silent Uncoupling: Jean Peters's Shrewd Exit from Howard Hughes's Shadow

In 1970, the notoriously private world of billionaire recluse Howard Hughes was momentarily pierced when his second wife, actress Jean Peters, filed for divorce. This wasn't a sudden, dramatic split; by then, their marriage had long been a phantom, with the couple having lived apart for many years as Hughes's eccentricities and reclusiveness spiraled out of control.

Jean Peters, a renowned beauty from Hollywood's Golden Age, had married Hughes in 1957. Their union was always shrouded in secrecy, dictated by Hughes's extreme need for privacy and control. He had famously vanished from public view, transforming into a legendary hermit who communicated almost exclusively through cryptic memos, confined to darkened hotel rooms, increasingly consumed by severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and a profound fear of germs.

By the time Peters decided to formally end the marriage, their relationship was a mere legal tie, devoid of any conventional partnership. Hughes's intense isolation meant they rarely, if ever, saw each other. Peters, known for her down-to-earth nature, had carved out her own quiet life, having long ago stepped away from the glitzy limelight. She was essentially married to a ghost, bound by law but separated by Hughes's self-imposed psychological prison.

When the divorce papers were filed, the financial terms were as extraordinary as Hughes himself. Jean Peters requested a lifetime alimony payment of $70,000 a year, meticulously adjusted for inflation. This wasn't a lump sum; it was a guaranteed, ongoing commitment from Hughes's vast fortune. To grasp its significance, $70,000 in 1970 translates to over $550,000 in today's money (2025), making it an exceptionally generous and secure income stream. Crucially, Peters made a shrewd concession in return: she waived all claims to Hughes's colossal estate. This meant she forfeited any right to his immense wealth after his death, choosing certainty over potential future chaos.

For Peters, this agreement was a pragmatic and dignified move to secure her financial future while consciously avoiding entanglement in the inevitable legal quagmires that would follow Hughes's eventual demise. His empire was notoriously complex, and his final years were plagued by legal disputes and intense uncertainty surrounding his mental state and any last will. By opting for a clear, inflation-proof alimony, Peters gained invaluable long-term financial stability without the drama, costly litigation, and relentless public scrutiny that claiming a piece of the unpredictable Hughes estate would have entailed. Her decision perfectly aligned with her desire for a peaceful, private life.

The divorce was finalized in 1971, quietly concluding a truly unconventional Hollywood marriage. It stands as a powerful testament to Jean Peters's foresight and her unwavering desire to live a life genuinely free from the consuming, eccentric shadow of one of the 20th century's most enigmatic and reclusive billionaires.