REALLY HIGH MAINTENANCE
By ANDY GELLER
The estranged wife of United Technologies Chairman George David says she has weekly expenses of $53,000 - more than what half the households in America earn annually and higher than the cost of attending an Ivy League school for a year.
Pity poor Marie Douglas-David, 36, a stunning Swedish countess in the middle of a divorce. She has no job, no assets and must depend on the largesse of her 66-year-old hubby for her well-being.
He is being kind.
At a hearing this week in Hartford Superior Court, he agreed to pay her $978,000 until their legal teams work out the terms of their divorce, including whether a $43 million post-nup she signed is still valid.
After six years of marriage, the eye-candy countess wants to keep the couple's 10,000-square-foot penthouse at 740 Park Ave., a source said.
She's willing to let David keep the weekend retreat in Sagaponack. It's a rental ($425,000 a year) anyway.
So how does Douglas-David, a former investment banker for Lazard Asset Management, manage to spend $53,000 a week?
Mortgage and maintenance fees and rent for the Park Avenue penthouse, the Hamptons retreat and properties in Sweden account for $27,300 a week, according to a financial affidavit she filed with the court. And then there's travel ($8,000), clothing ($4,500), a personal assistant ($2,209), horse care ($1,570), domestic help ($1,480), entertainment and restaurants ($1,500), health and skin care ($1,000), dry cleaning ($650), flowers ($600) and a trainer ($250).
And it must be noted after Douglas-David is cutting back.
A footnote to her affidavit said, "While recognizing that many of these expenses may seem high, most are lower than prior to the commencement of this case in August 2007."
A source said the footnote referred to the fact that while the countess and her husband, who used to be the CEO of United Technologies, were together, they spent $200,000 a week - or $10 million a year.
Douglas-David, the source said, only wants to live in the style to which she has grown accustomed. She has had no job since - with the backing of her husband - she quit her post at Lazard in 2003.
"It's all about her standard of living," the source said.
What about everybody else's standard of living?
According to the 2006 Census, 51.3 percent of American households earn less than $50,000.
And the cost of attending a year at Harvard, Princeton or Brown is about $50,000.
According to Douglas-David's affidavit, she has assets of $4.4 million, but debts of $5.7 million, including $2.9 million she owes her husband for loans he made.
In court testimony, David said he made several purchases of jewelry for his wife, including a $138,582 diamond engagement ring, $100,000 diamond earrings, and a pair of $255,000 diamond-earring studs. But he continued to own the bling - apparently to avoid gift taxes. That's why the countess lists the value of her jewelry as only $5,000.
The couple hobnobbed with the likes of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and took trips to China, Germany, Paris, London, the Bahamas and St. Tropez on United Technologies corporate jets and on a chartered yacht, The Hartford Courant reported.
