Michelle Yeoh Found Love After Divorce With Long-Term Partner Of Nearly 20 Years Jean Todt

Mar 20, 2023

When Michelle Yeoh accepted her historic Best Actress win at the 2023 Oscars, she celebrated her well-deserved victory with Jean Todt, her long-term partner of almost 20 years. Though hardly in the news for their romance, the couple has been engaged since 2005 and they have yet to hold an actual wedding ceremony.

Yeoh, born in Malaysia in 1962, and Todt, born in France in 1946, met in June 2004 at a Ferrari event in Shanghai. Like the well-accomplished international actress, Todt also carved out an impressive career for himself in motorsports, such as the World Rally Championship, Le Mans and Formula 1 (F1).  

Under Todt's leadership, Scuderia Ferrari became one of the most successful and unmatched teams in F1's history with star driver Michael Schumacher. Following his success at Ferrari, Todt became the president of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the governing body for F1, from 2009 to 2021. Yeoh was by her man's side when he was elected into the very influential position. 

Despite their long time together, Yeoh and Todt do not have any children but he has a son, Nicolas, born in 1977 from a previous marriage. More than a decade before meeting Todt, Yeoh was actually married from 1988 to 1992 to Hong Kong luxury goods businessman and chairman of Dickson Concepts, Sir Dickson Poon. 

While married to Poon, Yeoh consciously chose to quit acting and became a housewife. However, she decided to end the marriage because she could not bear a child. 

Speaking with South China Morning Post, Yeoh said she divorced Poon so they wouldn't have any bitterness "10 years down the road" but the ex-couple remain on good terms. In fact, following her Oscar win, Yeoh's celebratory photos with Todt on social media also included her goddaughter, Dee Poon, her ex-husband's daughter. 

In their two decades together, Yeoh and Todt have built a life in several houses in Paris, Geneva and Ipoh in Malaysia, the actress’ birthplace. In 2022, wedding rumors tolled louder than ever for the couple but she told Town & Country Magazine that they both were too busy with work to start planning what they want for the ceremony.  

“We’ve been threatening to get married for such a long time," Yeoh also told The Guardian in 2021. "Sometimes we say, ‘Wait, didn’t we already do it?’”

Todt revealed that Yeoh, who grew to prominence for her martial arts skills in Asian cinema and as a Bond Girl in Hollywood, was his "dream woman" and he got the nerve to talk to her at that first meeting from Schumacher, who became the couple's matchmaker. Thus, Yeoh also built a solid relationship with the F1 champion, and she's one of the few people who have complete knowledge of Schumacher's health after his devastating skiing accident in 2013. 

Though their relationship has remained under the radar to the general public, Yeoh has been quite open about her long-time love on her Instagram, where she has more than a million followers. Once in a while, the "Everything Everywhere All at Once" star posts greetings for Todt along with photos together. She also shared photos of herself with Todt and his son in 2020.

In a 2018 interview with You Magazine, Yeoh confessed that she was desperate to have children, especially when kids are a big deal for Chinese families. However, even IVF didn't bring any positive results for Yeoh.

"There’s only so much you can put your body and mind through," she said. “It comes to a stage where you have to accept it, move on and deal with the repercussions."

Michelle Yeoh is such an accomplished woman and her real-life partner, Jean Todt, is equally outstanding in his line of work! What do you think of their nearly 20-year relationship? Do you think they should finally tie the knot? Tell us what you think of this story!