Jeff Soffer
Jeff Soffer (L) tied the knot with Elle Macpherson (R) in August 2013. Getty

Gwyneth and Chis Martin shocked the world when they announced that they were calling it quits after 10 years of marriage.

"It is with hearts full of sadness that we have decided to separate," the Hollywood actress and Coldplay frontman said in a statement to fans on her their lifestyle website GOOP

"We have been working hard for well over a year, some of it together, some of it separated, to see what might have been possible between us, and we have come to the conclusion that while we love each other very much we will remain separate."

While all eyes are on the power couple, some celebrity watchers have turned their attention to Jeff Soffer, the billionaire that Vanity Fair claimed Paltrow cheated on her husband with five years ago.

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Back in October the magazine had planned an "epic takedown" of the Hollywood actress, which alleged that the Iron Man star had an affair with Soffer, who married Elle Macpherson last year, in 2008.

"Vanity Fair is asking if Gwyneth had an affair with Jeff back in 2008 when he reopened the Fontainebleau," a researcher told the New York Post's Page Six.

"He flew her in for the party, and she stayed at his house," the Post added. The next day, she allegedly joined Soffer on his yacht with actress Kate Hudson.

The story was never published.

At the time Paltrow's representatives refuted the claims, saying they were completely false. "Jeff is a longtime friend of Gwyneth's and there was no romantic relationship with him at all. He flew many of his friends to Miami that weekend – not just Gwyneth."

But in the wake of the couple's split the rumourmill has gone into overdrive and questions surrounding the true nature of Paltrow and Soffer's friendship are being raised once again.

But what do we really know about Paltrow's allegedly former lover?

Five Facts about Jeffery Soffer

  • Jeffery Soffer is a 44-year-old Miami-based hotel heir.
  • He owns Turnberry Associates, one of the country's leading property firms.
  • He started dating veteran supermodel Elle Macpherson in 2010. The couple got hitched in August 2013 in an intimate ceremony in Fiji.
  • Soffer is one of the survivors of the fatal helicopter crash at Bahamas' Baker's Bay in 2012.
  • Soffer is said to be worth $1bn.