Elena Ford - Personal Life

Personal Life

In 1991, Ford-Niarchos (as she was then known) married Stanley Jozef Olender, the owner of Stanley O's, an estate maintenance service in Southampton, New York. In 1996, after divorcing Olender, she married Joseph Daniel Rippolone, a plumber, mechanic, builder, and inventor. They have six children together. In 2008 Joseph Rippolone and Elena Ford divorced by mutual agreement. The divorce proceedings lasted a year. Elena remains in Grosse Pointe Farms with their four younger children while Joseph lives in Harrison Township with his two children from a previous marriage, Jillian and Joseph Jr. Both of Joseph Rippolone's older children attend Providence College in Rhode Island. Joseph, Jr has interned at Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, MI four years in a row and has most recently interned with Team Detroit, Ford Motor Company's Advertising Agency, in the past. The four younger children attend a small private school in Grosse Pointe Woods.

In 1997, Elena Ford was involved in a dispute with her half-siblings by her father's third wife, Eugenia Livanos. Stavros Niarchos stipulated in his will that no one has the right to touch his billions until 2009, and two Swiss court decisions have effectively bound the hands of the Niarchos heirs from any inheritance. With the Ford family fortune and the Niarchos money, Elena Ford's net worth is estimated to be $125 million, as of 2012.

On April 4, 2011, Elena Ford was charged with drunk driving after her company issued Ford Explorer jumped the curb onto the median then re-entered traffic. She was also charged with child endangerment as one of her children was in the vehicle. The incident occurred in the Detroit suburb of Ferndale, Michigan. On April 21, 2011 she pleaded guilty to the charges, and was sentenced to two years probation.