What Is Marla Maples' Net Worth?
Marla Maples is an American actress and socialite who has a net worth of $6 million. Marla Maples gained significant public attention through her relationship with businessman Donald Trump, whom she met in 1989. Their highly publicized romance began while Trump was still married to his first wife, Ivana Trump, leading to a divorce that dominated New York tabloid headlines.
Maples married Trump in 1993, two months after the birth of their daughter, Tiffany Trump. The couple divorced in 1999. Beyond her connection to Trump, Maples has built her own career in entertainment, appearing in several films including "Executive Decision" (1996) and "Maximum Overdrive" (1986). She also performed on Broadway, starring in "The Will Rogers Follies" in 1992.
On television, Maples has appeared in various shows and made guest appearances on programs like "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Dancing with the Stars" (2016). She's also hosted radio shows and the Miss Universe Pageant. In recent years, Maples has focused on wellness and spirituality, practicing yoga and following a largely plant-based lifestyle. She's authored a book titled "Marla's Manifesto" and continues to make occasional television appearances while maintaining a presence on social media platforms.
Early Life
Marla Ann Maples was born on October 27, 1963, in Cohutta, Georgia. Her mother, Ann Locklear Maples, was a model and homemaker, and her father, Stanley Edward Maples, was a real estate developer, country commissioner, singer, and songwriter. Maples attended Northwest Whitfield High School in Tunnel, Hill, Georgia, where she was a rising basketball star and served as the class secretary. In her senior year of high school, Maples was crowned the 1980-1981 homecoming queen.
After graduating high school, she entered the University of Georgia but left college before graduating. After she left college, Maples competed in numerous beauty contests and pageants, and in 1983, she won the Miss Resaca Beach Poster Girl Contest. The following year, she was the runner-up in the Miss Georgia contest. In 1985, Marla won the Miss Hawaiian Tropic contest.
Entertainment Career
Maples appeared in her first film, "Maximum Overdrive," in 1986. She then became well known in the WWF world, appearing as a celebrity guest at 1991 WWF WrestleMania VII and as a guest timekeeper in the match between defending champion Sergeant Slaughter and challenger Hulk Hogan. In that same year, Marla made a special appearance as herself in "Designing Women." In 1992, she joined the cast as "Ziegfeld's Favorite" of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical "The Will Rogers Follies." In 1994, she appeared next to then-husband Donald Trump in a cameo appearance in an episode of both "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Something Wilder."
(Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
Her other TV and movie credits include "Happiness," "Black and White," "The Nanny," "Spin City," "Switching Lanes," and Oprah's "Where Are They Now?" She also appeared in 1996's "Executive Decision," "For Richer or Poorer," "Richie Rich's Christmas Wish," "Two of Hearts," "Loving Annabelle," "A Christmas Too Many," and "A Nanny for Christmas."
Maples has also appeared in an off-Broadway production of "Love, Loss and What I Wore." She has twice hosted the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants and is currently a talk radio host. Her album "House of Love" won a Hollywood Music in Media Award.
In March 2016, it was announced that Maples would be a celebrity who would compete on season 22 of "Dancing with the Stars." She was partnered with professional dancer Tony Dovolani, and they were eliminated in Week 4. That same year, Maples joined the women of ABC's morning talk show "The View" as a guest co-host on March 11, 2016.
Philanthropy
Maples has long been committed to supporting charities and non-profits. She is a long-time vocal advocate of Kids Creating Peace, an organization that unites Israeli and Palestinian children. She is also involved with AWARENYC.org as an advisory board member. It is a grassroots organization dedicated to promoting awareness and generating money to make improvements in the lives of women and girls in New York City as well as worldwide. Marla also supports the Louis Armstrong Center of Music and Medicine.
Maples is a keynote speaker with the London Speakers Bureau, which focuses on inspiring women, wellness, spirituality, and motivation. She was featured in the Summer of Peace Summit in 2018 and discussed topics of peace and finding common ground. She also spoke at the 2018 Global Summit on Science, Spirituality, and Environment in India. That same year, she was a guest speaker on the "Journeys of Faith" podcast with Paula Faris.
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Other Ventures
Maples starred in an ad campaign for No Excuses jeans in 1990. In 1993, she designed a line of maternity clothes, which sold in several major department stores. In January 2000, a memoir by Maples, "All That Glitters Is Not Gold," was announced by the ReganBooks division of HarperCollins Publishers. However, in February 2002, a spokesperson for the company announced that the author and publisher made a mutual decision not to publish the book. Maples also makes personalized videos through the website Cameo.
Personal Life
Maples is perhaps best known for being the "other woman" during Donald Trump's marriage to Ivana Trump. Ivana reportedly discovered her husband's affair in 1991, confronting Marla on an Aspen ski slope. Ivana filed for divorce, and Maples married Trump in 1993 in a ceremony attended by 1,000 guests including Rosie O'Donnell and O.J. Simpson. They had a highly publicized relationship with at least one breakup. They had one child together, Tiffany Ariana Trump (b. 1993), before splitting for good in 1999. Under the terms of their prenuptial agreement and their divorce settlement, Maples is bound by a confidentiality agreement regarding their marriage.
Marla Maples/Donald Trump Divorce Settlement
Donald and Marla announced their plans to divorce in 1997, just shy of their four-year anniversary. As part of the divorce settlement, Donald stated his net worth was $1.17 billion, while Marla estimated her own net worth at $100,000. Interestingly, Donald was likely NOT a billionaire at that point. Why would he inflate his net worth? Reportedly the two had an air-tight prenuptial agreement that could only be broken if it was ever proven that Donald underestimated his fortune or hid money. So, he had an incentive to downplay his wealth and every incentive to over-estimate. To calculate his $1.17 billion net worth, Trump used what would later prove to be extremely inflated values for several assets. For example, he estimated his Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City to be worth $1.25 billion, despite the fact that that casino was reportedly losing money and was buried under a mountain of debt. He valued two other casinos at a combined $1 billion. These casinos both later went bankrupt.
Marla Maples reportedly demanded $25 million to make a clean break from Donald. Unfortunately for Marla, the terms of their prenup called for her to receive just $1 million if they separated after fewer than five years. They separated after four years. Under the less-than-five-year plan, Marla was entitled to an additional $1 million to buy a home and would receive $100,000 per year in child support payments for their daughter Tiffany until the child turned 21. Tiffany was four years old at the time. Marla also got to keep her $250,000 engagement ring.
Real Estate
In November 1999, Marla paid $1.349 million for a home in Calabasas, California. She sold this home in July 2013 for $2.2 million. Upon selling her LA home, she bought a condo in New York City not far from Central Park.
