What’s that in the air? Is it love? Well, maybe. At the very least, it’s a helicopter transporting Reese Witherspoon and the German financier she’s been hanging out with recently. “Page Six” spotted Witherspoon arriving at a heliport in New York City over the weekend with Oliver Haarmann, a founding partner at the private-equity firm Searchlight Capital and a minority co-owner of the New York Islanders.
In July, the pair was photographed having dinner at L’Artusi in the West Village the day after arriving in the city via helicopter. These two and their helicopters! Maybe their love language is not being able to hear each other on the trip back from the Hamptons. At the time, a source told People that Witherspoon and Haarmann were “friends.” Another source told the magazine that Witherspoon was “taking things slow when it comes to dating.”
On Wednesday, Witherspoon and Haarmann were photographed looking sweet and holding hands while leaving their hotel. If you told me that these two were a random Upper East Side couple on their way to Dalton for their kid’s piano recital, I’d believe you. They look like a good match.
Witherspoon and her ex-husband Jim Toth announced their divorce in March of last year and finalized their split last August. The couple were married for nearly 12 years and currently co-parent their son, Tennessee. Haarmann is also divorced, having previously been married to businesswoman Mala Gaonkar. In a fun twist, Gaonkar is now dating David Byrne. What a tangled web rich people weave.
So what is Haarmann’s deal? It seems like he’s just a run-of-the-mill rich dude. He went to Brown for undergrad and Harvard for business school. Classic. He does … whatever it is that financiers do. Witherspoon herself is no stranger to the world of private equity, so they probably bond over money moves. From 2012 to 2022, Haarmann served on the board of an arts organization in London, so he has an appreciation for her world too. And who knows, maybe he is the rare finance guy who has read a novel in the past decade. Maybe they’re perfect for each other! He certainly makes more sense for her than Kevin Costner or Tom Brady.
This post has been updated.
