She’s the Real Housewives Star Behind His $57 Billion Empire — Now Divorce Could Make Kyle Richards the Richest Woman on TV

Kyle Richards is one of the longest-running original Housewives on her franchise, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Kyle began her tenure on the series in 2010, and has shared her life continually for nearly fifteen years. If the reality TV veteran returns for Season 15 of RHOBH, which is likely, she will be the longest-standing original Housewife in Bravo history.

When Kyle announced in Season 13 that she and her husband of 27 years, Mauricio Umansky, would be separating, it truly shocked not only the viewers, but Kyle's co-stars as well. The couple, who raised four daughters together, have shared so much of their happy home life together on RHOBH over the years that the sudden separation was incompatible with that narrative. The abrupt announcement of a separation, with no real explanation of what had happened to necessitate the split, caused many to speculate about the cause. Kyle's co-stars also showed concern when they learned that neither Mauricio nor Kyle seemed eager to initiate divorce proceedings, worrying their friend might be too lackadaisical when it comes to protecting her interests. However abrupt and strange the announcement seemed at first, when the divorce is finalized, Kyle stands to become the richest woman on TV.

The Season 13 Split Shocked Everyone

Kyle announcing her separation from Mauricio was shocking, even if the couple had spent years dodging rumors that there was infidelity in the relationship. Kyle had a strong friendship with her co-star Lisa Vanderpump, right up until the moment when Brandy Glanville claimed that Lisa encouraged her to bring a copy of a magazine that suggested Mauricio was having an affair on a group vacation all the way back in Season 4. These rumors would surface occasionally in group gossip on RHOBH, but Kyle and Mauricio have always stood by each other and refuted the claims.

Then, Kyle made the strange choice to tease a potential same-sex romance with country music singer Morgan Wade shortly after announcing the split from her husband, which caused even further confusion. In Season 14, Kyle then decided to refuse to name her "friend" on the show anymore, after teasing the relationship throughout Season 13. Kyle's attitude that she doesn't owe anyone an explanation struck viewers as disingenuous, considering the nature of reality TV, and the fact that the Housewife constantly demands transparency from her co-stars. It occurred to savvy viewers that Kyle had possibly used her relationship with Morgan to distract from the divorce, and that she then had to back peddle when scrutiny over the choice began to get too heated.

Kyle's Divorce Could Leave Her Loaded

Divorce aside, Kyle isn't exactly a pauper in her own right. Aside from being on reality TV for nearly 15 years, Kyle also has her Hollywood career as an actor and producer. As a child actress, she appeared in TV shows like Little House on the Prairie, and she was also in Halloween with Jaime Lee Curtis. More recently, she has stepped behind the camera as a producer, and has continued to act with appearances on series like The Lincoln Lawyer. Both Mauricio and Kyle have been busy with their careers in recent years, and this can complicate a divorce, according to LA-based attorney and crisis communicator, Jamie E. Wright.

Speaking to The Sun, Wright observed that it isn't unusual that the power couple are taking their time to actually file for divorce, considering the "complex financial entanglements" presented by Kyle's Hollywood millions and Mauricio's $57 billion real-estate company, The Agency. Because the company was built during the couple's relationship, The Agency belongs to both parties under California law. In Season 14, Kyle was confident that her soon-to-be ex-husband understood this to be the case. The couple's fabulous lifestyle presents difficulties when it comes to fairly dividing assets, taking into consideration not only their real-estate portfolio, but also the value of The Agency, and brand equity from 14 Seasons on RHOBH. As Wright observed, each party will have to navigate the divorce carefully, with each element of their lifestyle becoming potential bargaining chips, where "a single strategic mistake can result in major financial losses reaching into the tens of millions." Emotions tend to get high when so much is on the line, so Kyle and Mauricio's hesitancy to initiate these proceedings make sense in this light.