(Reuters) – Continental Resources Chief Executive Officer Harold Hamm has been ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to his ex-wife in one of the largest-ever U.S. divorce judgments, according to a court filing on Monday.
In an 80-page ruling following a more than nine-week divorce trial that ended last month, Oklahoma Special Judge Howard Haralson ruled that oil magnate Hamm should pay his ex-wife a total of $995.5 million.
Although the award could make Sue Ann Hamm, 58, one of the 100 wealthiest women in the United States, according to Forbes’ rankings, it is far smaller than the amount her lawyers sought and does not require Harold Hamm to sell shares of Continental.
He holds 68 percent of the firm’s shares. During the trial, Sue Ann Hamm’s lawyers had asked Haralson to split a marital estate they estimated to be worth at least $17 billion, tied up in Continental shares.
Judge Haralson’s ruling is subject to appeal, but if accepted by both parties it would allow Continental’s CEO to put a contentious and time-consuming divorce behind him and to remain the controlling shareholder of one of America’s most successful oil companies.
