She famously sang Love Don’t Cost a Thing, but Jennifer Lopez’s lavish tastes are still well documented – something which apparently never sat well with Ben Affleck. And with no pre-nup signed, and their divorce rumbling on, the actor is reportedly growing more and more concerned about his personal finances in the wake of their split. According to sources, Ben is terrified that his personal fortune is in jeopardy as he picks up the pieces of his second failed marriage, and comes to terms with the money he spent keeping it alive. 

“Romancing Jennifer is not for the frugal – she goes through money like water,” says an insider close to Ben, whose two-year marriage to Jen quietly ended earlier this year – before she finally filed for divorce in August. “When they were together, nine times out of ten, it was his money they were spending. They were renting yachts and private jets, buying flashy cars, going on five-star vacations – not to mention spending $60 on their mansion in Beverly Hills, which still hasn’t sold and will likely end up being a huge financial loss. The spending was a big part of the reason he felt so overwhelmed. Sure, he’s worth $150m, but a lot of that is tied up – it’s not as though he just has it sitting in the bank. The worst part is that she’s worth two and a half times as much as he is, but she still expected him to pay for nearly everything because she’s very traditional when it comes to finances, and prefers her man to pick up the tab.”

It’s fair to say that – when Jen and Ben defied the odds and reunited in 2021, 17 years after their first engagement ended – they both dived headfirst into their reignited relationship. They married a year later, with money seemingly of little importance as they revelled in their love and splashed out on a double wedding celebration – in Las Vegas and Georgia – before investing in that megamillion mansion in 2023. But along the way, rumours began to swirl that Ben was getting increasingly uncomfortable with Jen’s love for the limelight – which he made no bones about during his awkward red-carpet appearances alongside her. Who can forget the Grammy’s in 2023, when Jen was filmed telling Ben, “Look more friendly, look motivated,” as he grimaced next to her.

Sources say the actor, who’s famously been something of a recluse in the public eye throughout his career, didn’t enjoy all the lavish trappings that came with being in the spotlight of their very public romance. Still, he was committed to doing whatever he could to keep their marriage on track – often throwing money at the problem.

“In the beginning, Ben had no issue with it because he was in a love bubble and wasn’t thinking straight,” says our source. “But once the blinders were off, he realised how foolish he was being with money. It’s not like he’s anywhere near broke, but he legitimately burned through more money in less than three years with Jen than he did the entire decade before. The spending was obscene and not at all his style; he was just doing it to make her happy, so – in the end – it really made him resent her. Normally, he’s very sensible with money. He doesn’t have champagne tastes at all.”

It’s no secret that the past year has been a particularly costly one for mum-of-two Jen, who not only spends a lot of her $400m wealth in her private life, but also funnels huge sums into her professional endeavours. In February, she revealed that she’d financed her Amazon Prime-released visual album, This is Me…Now: A Love Story – spending $20m of her own money to bring the ambitious project to life after her financial backing fell through. Her decision to pay for it herself was a gamble, and not one that necessarily paid off, as the album was panned by fans and critics, who called it a “vanity project”.

Meanwhile, despite the album, and its accompanying documentary, The Greatest Love Story Never Told, being a love letter to Ben, he was apparently uncomfortable with the entire spectacle. Throughout the documentary, we saw him struggling with Jen’s determination to use their private life for her art – even handing over a very intimate book he’d given her, full of love letters he’d written over the years, to her creative team to use as inspiration; and sources say her mega-spending to take the project over the line added to his discomfort. The album flopped and, just a few months later, the former couple secretly separated, prompting speculation that Jen’s hellbent spending on something so extra and extravagant was the straw that broke the camel’s back. 

As for their finances in the wake of their divorce, nothing has been set in stone as to how they’ll share their assets. Their mansion – which is currently listed for sale at $68m – is showing no signs of being sold anytime soon. Meanwhile, while neither party has requested spousal support, the fact that they never signed a pre-nup means there could be a financial battle when it’s finally time to sign on the dotted line. For the moment, things appear to remain civil between them, with Ben, who shares three children with his ex-wife Jennifer Garner, recently calling Jen’s performance in her new film Unstoppable “spectacular”.

But, as our source explains, he’s more concerned about the dent he made to his finances throughout their marriage. So, now that he has less outgoings, he’s simply focused on recouping lost funds, and working hard on his and best friend Matt Damon’s upcoming projects with their movie studio, Artists Equity. Next year will see him direct a new Netflix film, RIP, with more movies in the pipeline. So, he’s hedging his bets and making sure that 2025 brings him far less financial anxiety than he’s recently been facing. 

“With this recent chapter of his life done and over, Ben has put all his chips on Artists Equity – it’s got to be a vehicle for real wealth over the next few years,” we’re told. “He made all his money in the film business, and the success – or lack thereof – of his next few films are going to determine the course of the rest of his life, just as much as the disintegration of his relationship to Jennifer has. Ben isn’t the easiest guy to get along with, but he has a ton of heart, and, right now, he’s putting every ounce of it into turning his studio into a money-making machine of epic proportions.”