Harold Hamm, the Oklahoma oil mogul could break the £1.1 billion ($1.7 billion) record for a settlement, set by Rupert Murdoch, when he and his wife Sue Ann go their separate ways after 25 years together. In this case, Hamm’s adultery could cost him a half of his $11.25 billion fortune and he also might end up loosing control of Continental Resources, the company he founded in 1967.
The 67-year-old biggest player in the booming Bakken shale region of North Dakota made his fortune as a leading force in the American oil boom and served as the senior energy adviser to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign.
Divorcing couple Harold and Sue Ann Hamm at the TIME 100 gala in 2012. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)
Sue Ann Hamm, 56, Harold’s second wife, filed for divorce on May 19, 2012, claiming that she discovered he was having an affair in 2010, eventually prompting her to end their nearly 25-year marriage.
After details of the divorce were leaked, Continental issued a statement to help calm any nervous investors claiming that the divorce “is not anticipated to have any impact or effect on the Company’s business or operations.”
It is not yet known whether or not a prenuptial agreement exists and this could be the biggest settlement in history, worth over $5 billion.
Barbara Atwood, professor emeritus of family law at the University of Arizona, said: “I don’t know of anything that’s ever been this big. There’s just so much money involved.”
