Eagles Owners Divorce No Surprise

Christina Lurie solo at the Barnes Gala

Jeff and Christina Lurie, billionaire owners of the Philadelphia Eagles, have announced that they are getting a divorce after twenty years of marriage. For anyone watching, this is not a surprise. 


Christina Lurie often appeared without her husband. I remember seeing her alone at the Steppingstone Scholars benefit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in June 2011. She also came solo to the opening gala of the Barnes Collection. At both these events, she was very pleasant and approachable. 


She animatedly discussed her Oscar winning film, "Inside Job" at the Barnes and the Eagles Charities at the Steppingstone. By contrast, she was very nervous when she came to the star studded opening of the Museum of American Jewish History with her husband. 


David Binswanger, who is on the board of Eagles Youth Partnership, once told me that she had a hard time when she arrived. She was not used to all the attention. 


Later, he said, "She came to her own after the Oscar." 


Lurie did not just write the checks to get that Oscar. The director of "Inside Job" said that she provided him introductions to people in the financial industry that were invaluable to the film. Lurie wants to be intimately involved in filming, but that was very hard to do from Philadelphia. Her work with the Eagles did not keep her occupied. 


Her friends tell me she will be sending more time in Los Angeles to concentrate on her film career. NBC recently bought a television series from twitter celebrity Kelly Oxford that she championed.


Christina does a lot of good. The Eagles Youth Partnership has a mobile optometrist's office that used the celebrity of the Eagles to convince kids to get eye exams. 


I hope that both Luries find happiness. For two billionaires who could have anything they want, they never struck me as particularly happy. 


I am wondering who gets to keep the former Annenberg estate that they are currently living in.