Judges in Switzerland said Dmitry Rybolovlev, 47, has to give Elena Rybolovleva, who was with him for 24 years, a very precise 4,020,555,987 Swiss francs and 20 centimes.
In current sterling rates, this amounts to £2,681,297,538 and 78 pence – an estimate of half the Russian oligarch’s entire fortune.
Marc Bonnant, Ms Rybolovleva's clearly delighted lawyer, said the figure represented an 'amicable settlement' after six years of tough negotiations.
But Mr Bonnant also admitted that it was 'the most expensive divorce in history' and that Mr Rybolovlev viewed the astronomical sum as a 'hammer blow'.
Mr Bonnant said the billionaire had 'put up strong resistance' and tried to conceal the full extent of his assets via offshore ventures.
The Geneva court's decision can now be appealed by Mr Rybolovlev, who met his wife more than 30 years ago when they were students in the Ural mountains.
It follow a six-year legal saga in which Mr Rybolovlev, who made his billions through a successful fertiliser business, bitterly contested Ms Rybolovleva’s claims to two of the most expensive properties in the USA and a £100million Greek island.
Now Mr Rybolovlev must sign a cheque for the incredible sum in the Swiss city of Geneva, where Mrs Rybolovleva lives in a lakeside mansion.
She was by Mr Rybolovlev's side as he rose from a doctor-turned-entrepreneur into a stockbroker and banker, before becoming chairman and majority shareholder of Uralkali.
They stayed together during his 11 months in jail - when he was accused of murdering a competitor before the charges were dropped - and when threats on his life led him to wear a bullet-proof vest and move his family to Switzerland.
He was said to be stunned when he found out about the divorce petition on New Year's Eve 2008 from his bankers, after his accounts were frozen.
In that petition, the then Mrs Rybolovleva said she could no longer take his infidelities, describing parties on yachts where, she said, he had shared some 'young conquests with his friends, and other oligarchs'.
No comments:
Post a Comment