An interior designer who says she spent a decade as the de facto wife of Texas oil billionaire Sid Bass is now suing him—and his new spouse—for what she calls a bait-and-switch on her financial future. In a federal complaint reviewed by the New York Times, 64-year-old Oona Sperr claims she abandoned her career after a 2014 lunch at Bass' Manhattan townhouse where, the suit says, "Sid made clear, and Oona agreed, that they would build their lives together." She says she ran his Upper East Side properties, wore a 25-carat diamond on her ring finger, and was introduced at events as his wife or partner, all while expecting lifelong support.
Instead, Sperr alleges that after Bass, now 84, was diagnosed with Parkinson's, he pushed for a split, began a relationship with Althea Irene Viafora Kress, and later married her. Sperr says Bass first verbally promised her $50 million, a New York home, plus another property, and care for her mother—then lawyers sent a "Maintenance Agreement" offering $5 million annually for 10 years, no property title, no commitment to her mother's care, and a nondisclosure requirement.
Calling it "a case about broken promises," attorney Roberta Kaplan says Sperr wants $400 million, arguing Sperr should receive a settlement on par with Bass' ex-wives, who left the marriages with sizable assets—his first wife was awarded what the Times calls "the largest divorce settlement in Texas history at the time." (Forbes has a financial profile of Bass here.) For the legal and social backstory, read the full piece in the Times.
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