‘Kardashians’: What Happened to Robert Kardashian’s Inheritance? Breaking Down the Legal Battle

The Thursday, November 20, episode of The Kardashians featured an emotional moment between Kim Kardashian and Khloé Kardashian. Kim gifted her younger sister with their late father Robert Kardashian’s bible, which he gave O.J. Simpson amid the former NFL star’s legal issues in the ’90s. Following Simpson’s death, the bible was put up for auction, and Kim placed the highest bid to win it back (under a pseudonym).

Khloé was extremely grateful for the thoughtful gift, as she explained, “When my dad died [in 2003], things happened, and we didn’t get a lot of his stuff.”

But what exactly happened to Robert’s inheritance, leaving his kids with virtually nothing? Scroll down for everything we know.

Who did Robert Kardashian leave his inheritance to?

After Robert died, his four children were involved in a legal battle with his third wife, Ellen Pierson, over his inheritance. Robert and Ellen got engaged in 2001 and tied the knot in 2003, just six weeks before he died.

To his children, Robert reportedly left “all intangible property and tangible property.” However, there was an exception in his will that stated Ellen would receive his Indian Wells property and the “furnishings” inside, according to Altman & Associates.

In 2013, the Kardashian siblings and Ellen became involved in a legal dispute after Ellen sold stories from Robert’s diaries to the press. The Kardashians argued that this was copyright infringement, as the diaries were “tangible” property that was left to them in their father’s will, per TMZ. They accused Ellen of keeping the diaries a secret so she could exploit them when she saw fit.

That same year, Ellen filed her own lawsuit against the family, including Kris Jenner. She accused them of defamation, claiming the family trashed her on their show, and alleged that they hired a private investigator to try and sell her damaging information about the family so she would appear to be a blackmailer and gold digger, according to TMZ.

 

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On Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Khloé accused Ellen of marrying Robert “on his deathbed,” while Kris said Ellen propped Robert “up on a pillow, basically in his own bed and married him in his pajamas.” A judge allowed Ellen to pursue her defamation lawsuit on these statements, although many of the others she mentioned in her lawsuit were dismissed.

Khloé fired back at Ellen in a lawsuit of her own, standing by her claims that Ellen married Robert when he was dealing with physical and mental fatigue from his cancer diagnosis. She alleged that Robert’s mental state was “compromised” at the time of the wedding ceremony, according to TMZ.

There is no public information about how the lawsuits eventually played out.

How did Robert Kardashian make his money?

Robert made his money as a lawyer and businessman/entrepreneur. Most notably, he was a member of O.J. Simpson’s defense team during the trial for Nicole Brown Simpson‘s murder.

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However, in addition to his legal career, Robert also founded several businesses, including a trade publication called Radio & Records Newspaper in the 1970s. He also started a company called Movie Tunes. “Before there were advertisements, before the movie started, he put music throughout every movie theater,” Rob Kardashian explained in a 2013 interview.

How did Robert Kardashian die?

Robert died from esophageal cancer on September 30, 2003. He was 59 years old at the time of his death. Robert was diagnosed just two months before his death.

“I don’t think he could accept himself that it was terminal, but he never used those words with us,” Khloé, who was 19 when Robert died, recalled on a 2025 episode of her podcast. “So I just thought, ‘Oh, if I don’t see him, this isn’t real.'”

She added, “When he did die, I remember what guilt I felt for not spending more time with him. But then that guilt turned into anger, because then I was like, ‘I need someone to blame, so I’m gonna blame my dad, ’cause he didn’t tell me that it was terminal.'”

The Kardashians, Season 7, New Episodes, Thursdays, Hulu