Kimora Lee Simmons’ estranged husband, financier Tim Leissner, has filed for divorce after 12 years of marriage.
Us Weekly obtained court documents showing that Leissner, 56, officially sought to end his marriage on February 4 in Los Angeles Superior Court, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for the split. Leissner did not specify a separation date in his divorce petition but he has reportedly been separated from Simmons, 50, since at least 2022. (TMZ was the first to report the news.)
Leissner is seeking spousal support from Simmons and has asked the court to block her from collecting any financial support from him. He is requesting that Simmons pay his legal fees.
Simmons and Leissner share one child, Wolfe Lee Leissner, 11. (Kimora shares two children — daughters Ming, 25 and Aoki, 23 — with her first husband, Russell Simmons, and has a son Kenzo, 16, with ex-boyfriend Djimon Hounsou. She also raised “bonus” son Jaden, 19, since he was a young child, and adopted son Gary, 16, in 2020.)
Us Weekly has reached out to Kimora’s representative for comment.
Former Goldman Sachs managing director Leissner pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiring to launder money and conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) for his alleged involvement in a money-laundering scheme with the Malaysian government’s state-owned investment and development fund, 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB), according to the U.S. Justice Department.
As part of his plea deal, Leissner forfeited $43 million and his “shares of stock valued at more than $200 million,” the Justice Department announced in 2023. Per Bloomberg, Leissner reported to federal prison in February to serve a two-year sentence.
Kimora was linked to Leissner shortly after her split from Hounsou in 2012. Kimora’s ex-husband, Def Jam cofounder Russell, revealed that she’d tied the knot with Leissner in 2014 to debunk reports that she was dating rapper Birdman.
Kimora Lee Simmons in May 2025. Araya Doheny/Getty Images for Gold House
“All of us love @OfficialKimora but the fact is she is happily married,” Russell tweeted at the time. “Tim has been family for a while now.”
Kimora was previously married to Russell for 11 years before they divorced in 2009. She was later in a five-year relationship with two-time Oscar-nominated actor Hounsou from 2007 to 2012.
In December 2025, Kimora revealed to People that she does not “have a relationship really” with any of her children’s fathers.
Kimora Lee Simmons isn’t afraid to address any topics with her daughters. In Us Weekly’s exclusive sneak peek of the Tuesday, December 9, episode of E!’s Kimora: Back in the Fab Lane, the fashion designer and model is confronted by her daughters, Ming Lee Simmons and Aoki Lee Simmons, about a 2004 mugshot that just […]
“Usually I would say that I co-parent okay, but the kids are with me full-time,” Simmons clarified. “I’m pretty much the primary parent. It’s difficult, but I don’t know sometimes what other people are thinking. Guys are weird.”
Kimora confirmed at the time that she was happily single and insisted that “life doesn’t ever revolve around a guy, ever.”
“I am thankful I’m able to be there for my family in ways that other people or parents are not,” she added. “If I wasn’t this person, I don’t know if we would’ve made it or if we would be okay. It’s been very important to me to be strong and self-reliant, and to constantly be growing.”
