Inside Chelsea Clinton And Marc Mezvinsky's Marriage
Chelsea Clinton grew up in the spotlight. She was just 12 years old when her father Bill Clinton was first sworn into office as President of the United States (via Britannica). Chelsea didn't exactly have a normal childhood — and when she fell in love, it wasn't exactly ordinary either.
Chelsea first met Marc Mezvinsky in 1992 at Renaissance Weekend — an invite-only retreat that the Clintons frequently attended (via Vogue). After growing up in the same political circles, Chelsea and Mezvinsky both ended up attending Stanford University where their friendship blossomed into romance. The pair eventually went public with their relationship and tied the knot in 2010 in a lavish ceremony (via the BBC).
Now, the couple both work in the finance industry in New York City while raising their three children; Charlotte, Aidan, and Jaspar. Despite rumors that their marriage was on the rocks in 2011, the couple has stayed strong for over a decade. In 2014, Chelsea even said in an interview, "My marriage is incredibly important to me. ... It's the place from which I engage in the world every day, and the place to which I return every day" (via Us Weekly). But what has their marriage really been like?
Chelsea and Marc married in 2010 in an extravagant, highly secure ceremony
Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky tied the knot in 2010, in Rhinebeck, New York. The ceremony was nothing short of spectacular. According to the BBC, the wedding cost between $2 million and $3 million. Around 500 guests were said to have attended, including the likes of Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks, and Barbra Streisand. Apparently, there was even a no-fly zone set up during the wedding so the couple could have privacy. According to wedding planner Claudia Hanlin, the wedding was "very understated, elegant ... befitting a royal wedding for the U.S." (via Today). The wedding also featured a joint Jewish and Christian ceremony (via ABC News). Former President Bill Clinton walked his daughter down the aisle and, during the ceremony, the couple read the poem "The Life I Have" by Leo Marks.
Bill Clinton also expressed his feelings toward his new son-in-law. "I like him [Marc Mezvinsky] very much, I really do. I admire him. I feel very blessed," the former president told reporters at the time. "Hillary thinks the same way. We think he's fabulous."
Chelsea and Marc's marriage works because of rather than in spite of their differences
A quick look at Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky's backgrounds and you might be surprised that they actually ended up married to each other. Yes, the couple both have parents in politics, but that seems to be where the similarities stop. While Chelsea is an only child from a Christian family, Mezvinsky is one of 11 children from a Jewish family.
And their personalities don't exactly match up either. "She's very much the yin to my yang," Mezvinsky said in 2012 (via Vogue). "I don't want to say I'm aloof, but I definitely can exist in a cloud. I walk into parking meters. She's the antithesis of that. She's like: This is where the parking meters go!" If Chelsea is straight-laced and precise, Mezvinsky is perhaps a little more easygoing. "He's this playful schoolboy stuck inside this wicked-smart, really astute adult body," said Chelsea Clinton's chief of staff Bari Lurie (via Vogue). "He's as happy goofing off as he is talking finance with world leaders. He's the best of both worlds."
Chelsea and Marc's marriage is built on the foundation of a childhood friendship
Chelsea Clinton's upbringing was anything but normal. Luckily, her husband Marc Mezvinsky understands just how strange being the First Daughter must have been for his wife — because he was there to see it all firsthand. The pair first met when Chelsea was 12 and he was 15 at the 1992 Renaissance Weekend retreat. According to Vogue, they struck up a friendship. In fact, their two families have actually been friends for decades (via The Philadelphia Inquirer).
Over the years, Chelsea has alluded to the fact that her marriage is built on friendship. "I certainly believe that all of my friends, as Marc and I did, should have the right to marry their best friends," she said at a gay rights benefit in 2011 (via The New York Times).
While Chelsea and Mezvinsky may have fallen in love as adults, it's clear that they built the real foundations of their marriage when they were childhood friends. "I've known Chelsea since I was 15 and she was 12. What can I say? She's the love of my life," said Mezvinsky (via Glamour).
Chelsea and Marc learned how to make time for each other while dating
A good marriage is built on making quality time for your partner — and it seems that Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky learned this the hard way back when they were still dating. At the time, Chelsea had been working at a finance firm while simultaneously earning a master's degree. "I was working full-time and going to school at night and on the weekends. It was just crazy," Chelsea said (via Glamour). "At one point a month had gone by, and Marc — my then boyfriend, now husband — and I hadn't gone out on a date." Realizing that she wasn't making time for Mezvinsky taught her a valuable lesson. "I don't want to be this person. I want to be a person who cares where she's investing her time and energy. And I want to be a good wife, daughter, and friend."
Since then, Chelsea has made an effort to spend quality time with Mezvinsky, even if her schedule is just as jam-packed as ever. For one thing, the couple tries to squeeze in a weekly date. "Marc and I go to a movie every Sunday," she said (via Vogue). Clearly, whatever they're doing is working.
In 2011, tabloid rumors spread of trouble between Chelsea and Marc
Shortly after Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky tied the knot in 2010, rumors began to spread that the couple was on the verge of separating. The Daily Mail reported that the Clinton family wanted Mezvinsky to cut off ties with his father.
However, the rumors turned out to be false. "I think a lot of people are hoping that there's trouble between Chelsea and Marc, but it's just not the case," said Daily News gossip columnist Carson Griffith (via CBS). "[According to] our inside sources between them, looks [like] they're still in love. They're still a young, happy couple." Griffith went on to explain that rather than have relationship problems, the couple was dealing with professional problems — Mezvinsky took a career break and went on a skiing vacation.
The pressure of the tabloid scrutiny took its toll. "None of it was true," Chelsea's chief of staff Bari Lurie told Vogue a year later in 2012. "But what put a strain on them was that the stories were being written because none of us were paying attention to it." As Chelsea herself told The New York Times, "When Marc and I were being hounded by the paparazzi for the silly reason du jour," she decided it might be "time to start leading a purposefully public life."
Chelsea and Marc both work in the finance sector — but Chelsea might be a little more successful
Another thing that the couple has in common is their profession — both Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky work in the finance sector. Over the years, Mezvinsky has worked at several large firms and hedge funds. He worked at Goldman Sachs before briefly working in private equity in 2011 and starting his own hedge fund later that year. According to The New York Times, the fund lost almost 90% of the $25 million it had raised from investors before closing. Mezvinsky then took a job at Social Capital, before moving to TPG.
Chelsea has had a little more success in the industry. She has worked at a management-consulting firm, a hedge fund, and in private equity. "I will always work harder [than anybody else] and hopefully perform better" (via The Telegraph). Even though Chelsea has perhaps been a little more successful than her husband, the pair have thrived while working in the same field. "We both built lots of Excel models," she said. "We geek out a lot."
Chelsea and Marc moved into a massive apartment in New York City in 2013
So, where does a couple like Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky actually live? Well, unsurprisingly, their home is nothing short of breathtaking. Their gorgeous apartment, which they purchased in 2013, is in the exclusive New York City condominium complex called The Whitman and reportedly cost $10 million (via New York Daily News). The giant apartment overlooks Madison Square Garden and features the longest hallway in any New York City apartment at 250 feet. "The hallway is a wow factor," said Douglas Elliman broker Dina Lewis. "One spouse can be fast asleep while the other has a huge dinner party. All on one floor." The home reportedly also features two dressing rooms, giant closets, and a round-the-clock doorman.
Chelsea's apartment also features oak floors throughout the four bedrooms, six and a half bathrooms, an office, a "media room," an elevator, and a huge open living space (via Daily Mail). It doesn't really get more luxurious than this!
Chelsea and Marc try to live a normal life in New York City
Even though Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky live in one of New York City's most luxurious apartments, they try to keep their lives as simple and as "normal" as they can. As Chelsea mused to Vogue in 2012, she's always felt that her life has been both "extraordinarily normal" and "extraordinarily extraordinary." So, she tries to live life in the real world. "I would never want to live in a cloister," she said. "It's important to me to walk down the street and hear what people are talking about or go for a run on the West Side Highway." She and her husband even make an effort to ride the subway rather than take private cars. "We ride the subway. It's one of the great gifts of New York City," she said. "Why would I want to miss that?"
Chelsea and her husband also seem to have pretty ordinary food tastes. They even enjoy New York takeaway. "Fried chicken is my husband's favorite food," she said (via The Telegraph). Apparently, he loves to "gorge himself on fried chicken" whenever they're in New York.
Chelsea and Marc had their first child in 2014 — and quickly wanted more
After the death of her grandmother Dorothy in 2011, Chelsea Clinton found herself becoming eager to have children of her own. So, she and Marc Mezvinsky made a plan. "The first thing on the list was simple: We want, God willing, to start a family. So we decided we were going to make 2014 the Year of the Baby" (via Glamour). And right on schedule in 2014, Chelsea and Mezvinsky had their first child Charlotte.
Chelsea later told Elle that having a child had transformed her and her husband's lives: "My whole life is reoriented around my daughter," she said. However, this only made her marriage better. "I didn't know I could care more intensely about anything until I became a mom," she said (via People). "Somehow I love my husband even more." Apparently, Mezvinsky proved to be an amazing father. "He's so attentive, he's so engaged with her," she gushed. Within a year, she and her husband were thinking about having more children.
Chelsea and Marc had two more kids — and Marc helped Chelsea thanks to his big family upbringing
Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky went on to have two more children, Aidan in 2016 and Jasper in 2019 (via People). With two more children, Chelsea — an only child — found herself feeling a little overwhelmed. Luckily, her husband — who had 10 siblings growing up — was there to offer support. "Actually for him it was quite a different experience, having two kids and then having three kids, because there were so many kids in the house when he was growing up and he is very close to his mom," Chelsea explained (via Romper). While Chelsea found herself worrying about the children bickering, Mezvinsky reassured her it was normal. "Marc would be like, 'They're fighting over a crayon or a Magna Tile or a Lego. It's normal. It's fine,'" Chelsea recalled.
Sounds like Chelsea and Mezvinsky don't just balance each other out as people; they balance each other out as parents too.
In 2020, the family spent the summer with Hillary and Bill
By now, Marc Mezvinsky is well and truly part of the Clinton family. In fact, during the coronavirus pandemic, Chelsea Clinton, her husband, and their three children spent an extended period with her parents during the summer. "It was really wonderful for our kids to have that time with their grandparents ... from late spring really through the whole summer, where they were able to plant a garden together and tend a garden together and pick and harvest the food together and eat the food together and play so many games," Chelsea said (via People).
Having acknowledged the long period of time spent with the Clintons, Chelsea also explained that she and her husband were trying to keep their children connected to the other side of their family too. "[We're] super aware of how much time we haven't had with other parts of our family," she said (via People). "We've just tried to figure out ways to remain connected, especially for our kids with our cousins."
Chelsea and Marc know how to laugh together
Even though Chelsea Clinton and Marc Mezvinsky are pretty different thanks to their upbringings and their personalities, at the end of the day, they seem to be a couple who bring out the best in each other. At the heart of their marriage is laughter. "Marc brings out this incredibly silly, sidesplittingly hilarious side of Chelsea, and that's something she really needs," said Chelsea's bridesmaid Jen Lee Koss (via Glamour). According to Mezvinsky, "Chelsea has Herculean willpower, but for all her intensity, she still doesn't take herself too seriously. Just yesterday, we were laughing at ourselves for laughing, not remembering what we were giggling about in the first place."
For a couple who has to deal with so many serious things in life, it's lucky that these two have so much fun together. Perhaps it's true that couples who laugh together, stay together.