Larry King’s wife motivated by money, says ex

Larry King with wife Shawn and sons Cannon and Chase

[HMG] – As you know, CNN host Larry King and his estranged wife, Shawn Engermann put their pending divorce on hold early Monday, for reasons unknown. But friends of Shawn say she may have only married Larry for money and he needs to be on his guard.

Shawn, a 50-year old former singer and TV host became the 7th Mrs. King on September 5, 1997 in a Los Angeles hospital, three days before Larry, 76, was scheduled for major heart surgery. And friends say that, in public at least, Larry’s been the ideal husband;

“I’ve never seen a person more generous with his wife,” Mike Borchetta, a friend of the couple tells Us.

But when they learned twelve years ago that Larry and Shawn were considering marriage, King’s close friends had some doubts;

“Everyone other than Larry knew what Shawn’s designs were going in,” sixth wife, Julia Alexander tells the scribes. “A lot of people tried to warn him about her possible financial motivations. ”

The divorce plans were prompted, we’re told by Larry’s generosity towards Shawn’s own family. With a salary of around $15-million a year from CNN Larry’s a big spender, and bought Shawn’s sister numerous gifts, including a $160,000 car and Cartier jewelry. Shawn found out and promptly accused them both of having an affair.

“I think it’s really sad that fingers are being pointed at me,” the other Engemann says. “This is an unfortunate situation.”

Just to make the ‘situation’ even more sticky, it now seems that both sides may have been cheating, as the baseball coach of the couples sons, claims to having an affair with Shawn. The couple have two children; Chance, aged 11, and Cannon, who’s 9. There’s also no prenup. And the pair’s love for the children could cause a real battle;

“They worship their children,” close friend, Martha Borchetta explains. “I’m hoping they work it out.”

And it looks like they could – Larry’s attorney says things are still on hold – for now: “There will be no activity for two weeks in the divorce proceedings, while they work through several issues,” we are told.

So whether they actually divorce or not could depend on how generous Larry can be in two weeks. We’ll keep you advised…