Divorce settlements can get big among the wealthy, but rarely do they reach the billion-dollar mark. But the case of Harold Hamm and Sue Ann Hamm was no ordinary divorce case because Hamm is an Oklahoma oilman worth billions.
Following a nine-week trial in Oklahoma City, a judge has ruled that Hamm, 68, will have to pay Sue Ann Hamm almost $1 billion in a settlement. As The New York Times, points out, this will easily make Sue Ann Hamm one of the richest women in the world.
Hamm, who is estimated to be worth $18 billion as the CEO of Continental Resources, will be paying that total incrementally. By the end of the year, he has to pay Sue Ann $320 million. Then, he will pay her $7 million a month.
Hamm’s attorneys are actually pleased with the deal. “We think this is a fair and equitable outcome of the case,” attorney Mike Burrage told NewsOK. Sue Ann Hamm’s attorneys didn’t have a statement just yet.
The couple married in April 1988 and Sue Ann Hamm, 58, had asked Hamm to move out of their house in February 2012. They cited “mutual irreconcilable differences” in the initial divorce filing.
In addition to the headline-making monetary settlement, Sue Ann Hamm also received $25 million in assets, including homes in Oklahoma and a Carmel Valley, California ranch. Hamm gets to keep a $10 million plane, a house in Branson, Missouri, an Enid, Oklahoma office building. He also received two horses at a California ranch.
This was Hamm’s second marriage. He was previously married to Judith Ann Hamm. He has two adult daughters with Sue Ann Hamm, Jane and Hillary.
According to Forbes, the till-time record for a divorce settlement was set by Russian “fertilizer king” Dmitry Rybolovlev, who paid his ex-wife $4.5 billion.