Billionaire in NJs biggest divorce case wins bid to protect hedge-fund secrets from going public

The billionaire embroiled in New Jersey’s biggest divorce case Tuesday won his bid to keep the worth of his company’s assets secret from the public as he and his wife duke it out over the staggering fortune.John Overdeck, 56, asked a judge to kick the public out of a Newark courtroom during testimony about the breakdown of the assets of his $80 billion Manhattan-based hedge fund, Two Sigma.Family-court Judge Bruce Buechler ruled against sealing the entire testimony of Overdeck’s expert financial witness, Todd Povlich — but agreed that the parts of Povlich’s testimony that could reveal Two Sigma’s company secrets should happen behind closed doors.The ruling came on the 10th day of a multiday hearing in which Overdeck’s estranged wife, Laura Overdeck, 56, is fighting to be awarded 35% of John’s third of the company he founded with two other people in 2001 — including David Siegel, with whom he’s locked in a bitter company power struggle.Laura and John, who have three kids, never signed a prenup when they were hitched in 2002.John’s side claims his portion of Two Sigma is worth $4.5 billion, while Laura’s side says it’s worth $6.2 billion, as she stakes a claim in the business, saying it’s a marital asset.During the public parts of Tuesday’s hearing, Laura — wearing red glasses, a cream blazer, blue plaid pants and gun-metal-colored woven leather heeled mules — appeared actively engaged, typing on a laptop and frequently leaning over to speak with her lawyers.John meanwhile spent much of his time in court gazing down at his cell phone as his lawyer questioned Povlich, John’s second-to-last witness.During the sealed part of the hearing, Povlich was expected to explain how he landed on his estimate of what Two Sigma’s overall worth was by explaining what he believed each of the company’s 20 entities should be valued at.Earlier, Laura’s lawyer, Theresa Lyons, questioned why Povlich’s testimony needed to be kept secret when John�...