It's one of the most expensive divorces in history.
The now-ex-wife of oil tycoon Harold Hamm was awarded $1 billion in a divorce settlement–and apparently wants an even bigger piece of the pie. Attorneys for Sue Ann Hamm have stated that the settlement is unfair because her husband, the richest man in the state of oil-rich Oklahoma, owns more than $20 billion in assets through his company Continental Resources.
The couple was married for 26 years prior to the divorce proceedings and have no children and no prenuptial agreement. Harold appointed Sue Ann, a lawyer and economist, as an executive of Continental Resources while they were still married. Sue Ann, dissatisfied with the amount of the settlement, plans on filing for an appeal.
“Sue Ann is disappointed in the outcome of this case,” her lawyer, Ron Barber, has stated. “She dedicated 25 years as Harold’s faithful partner in family and business.”
Harold’s lawyers defend the fairness of the settlement by arguing that the assets tied up in the company actually fluctuate depending on the changes in oil prices, and that Harold owned the business 20 years prior to his marriage to Sue Ann and therefore deserves the majority of the company’s wealth.
Legal experts believed that the settlement would indeed be much larger than it actually turned out to be, estimating that Sue Ann Hamm would be awarded closer to $4-8 billion. The settlement had the potential to surpass the most expensive divorce in history thus far of $4.5 billion between Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev and his ex-wife in May of this year.
As it stands now, the Hamm settlement will be doled out in installments, with Sue Ann receiving a third of the money by the year’s end, and then will be split into payments of $7 million a month until the full billion (more precisely, $995.5 million, but who’s counting at this point?) has been paid out.
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