At first glance, Chelsea Clinton and her husband Marc Mezvinsky have enjoyed a storybook romance. They met as teenagers, blossomed into bosom buddies in college, and then became romantic after Chelsea exited a long-term relationship in 2005.
However, the storybook romance has a simple ending: “happily ever after.” For Chelsea and Marc, the story kept going, and sometimes in some dark and unexpected directions.
Wondering what that story is and whether it’s about to end? Here is the truth about Chelsea Clinton’s marriage.
Chelsea & Marc: opposites attract
Growing up, you often heard the phrase “opposites attract” to describe romantic partners. In reality, most couples aren’t like that: more often than not, it’s “like attracts like.” But Chelsea and Marc may be the exception that proves the rule.
Back in 2012, Vogue interviewed Chelsea Clinton and discovered some fun information about her and Marc. For example, Marc uses Bill Clinton’s life story as a barometer for how his own life has changed. He talks about being “just a nerdy Jewish boy from Philly” thrust into wealth and fame and how even “Bill Clinton grew up with a dirt floor in Arkansas, so it’s all relative.”
They aren’t just opposites in terms of fame, wealth, and power. It also comes down to their personalities. As Marc told Vogue, “She’s very much the yin to my yang. I don’t want to say I’m aloof, but I definitely can exist in a cloud.”
Finally, they are opposites in terms of their family dynamics growing up. While quiet, in-the-clouds Marc has a whopping 11 siblings, the assertive Chelsea has none.
RELATED: The Amazing Transformation Of Chelsea Clinton
Chelsea & Marc’s ‘royal wedding’
Love them or hate them, the Clintons are basically American royalty. So, it’s only fitting that Chelsea’s 2010 wedding would be inspired by royalty. And as her wedding advisor told Today before the big event, “It’s going to be very understated, elegant, but befitting a royal wedding for the U.S.”
Chelsea and Marc got married at New York’s Astor Courts estate, and they spared no expense on the ceremony. The event is estimated to have cost as much as $5 million. Then again, that may seem like a small price to pay to keep some of the big-name guests happy.
Some of these famous guests included Barbra Streisand, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Oprah Winfrey. But what those guests loved best was something money alone can’t buy: the FAA declared a no-fly zone over the area to help ward off interruptions and also paparazzi.
Chelsea & Marc’s marriage was plagued by rumors
The knot was barely tied before the rumors started flying. And those rumors had a single theme: that Chelsea and Marc were going to split up any day now.
For example, in 2011, CBS 2 claimed there were reports that their union was “collapsing under pressure from work and family.” Some reports even claimed that Chelsea was seeking an annulment.
But what was their “proof” of a rocky relationship? Simply that Marc was on a months-long break from his job over in Wyoming while Chelsea was in Manhattan, working on a doctorate in public policy at Columbia University.
In 2012, Clinton Foundation Chief of Staff Bari Lurie told Vogue that none of the rumors true. However, this taught the young couple that they needed to be proactive about what the media says about them. “It was an eye-opening lesson,” Lurie said. “Chelsea realized, ‘Maybe I need to get out there and demystify myself a little bit.'”
RELATED: Why Chelsea Clinton Ended Her Friendship With Ivanka Trump
Chelsea & Marc meet the parents
When Chelsea and Marc got together, you might expect Marc to be particularly nervous about meeting the parents, especially when “the parents” are as famous as Bill and Hillary Clinton. However, he was an instant hit, and Bill particularly took a liking to him. The story of Chelsea and Marc’s father, however, is a bit more complicated.
Marc’s dad Ed Mezvinsky had a meteoric rise and fall as a politician himself. He was a Democratic congressman back in the ’70s. But in 2002, he pled guilty to a Ponzi-style scheme that had ripped people off to the tune of $10 million.
The elder Mezvinsky was quite contrite about his crimes. Per Politico, he said, “I am humbled and saddened at having sullied my reputation and that of my family and having disappointed the many honorable and decent people who had confidence in me. I am prepared to try to make amends as best I can.”
He is now out of prison and free to be a father-in-law to Chelsea. But we can only imagine it is awkward for him to still owe millions of dollars to his victims even as Chelsea Clinton makes amazing financial accomplishments.
Chelsea & Marc: who’s the breadwinner?
When they first got together, Chelsea and Marc were each very successful in their own right. As time went on, though, one thing became clear: Chelsea is the consistent breadwinner of the family.
Marc is a trained and experienced investor, but he’s had a rocky job history. After working for major companies such as Goldman Sachs, Marc tried to launch his own hedge fund. But The New York Times reported that he had to close the fund in 2016 “after losing nearly 90 percent” of his clients’ $25 million.
After this debacle, Marc became vice chairman for Social Capital, but he was there for less than a year. But it’s okay if his work and success are inconsistent: thanks to Chelsea Clinton, the two of them can live in the lap of luxury.
RELATED: How Much Is Chelsea Clinton Worth?
Chelsea & Marc: happily ever after?
In recent years, it’s easy to see Chelsea and Marc have been quite successful. After all, they bought a $10.5 million New York apartment in 2013. As the Daily Mail puts it, their home is 5,000 square feet, “stretching an entire block from 26th Street to 27th Street off Madison Avenue.”
How can they afford these awesome digs? Two words: Chelsea Clinton. She sat on the board of internet investment firm IAC/InterActiveCorp, and she’s made a cool $9 million between her salary and stock options since 2011.
She also brings in regular money through other gigs. This includes earning $250,000 from the Expedia Group in 2017 and earning $600,000 per year (per Politico) as an NBC News correspondent.
Thanks to her ongoing success, Chelsea and Marc may enjoy that “happily ever after” they’ve always dreamed of! They appear to be a happy couple raising their three children: Charlotte (born in 2014), Aidan (born in 2016), and Jasper (born in 2019).