At $4.5 Billion, Russian Billionaire’s Divorce Settlement Is The World’s Most Expensive!
According to a USA Today report, a Swiss court ruling is all set to enter the record books with a divorce settlement like never heard before. The court has in its landmark ruling ordered a Russian billionaire to pay an astounding $4.5 billion to his wife. According to the Geneva Tribunal of First Instance, Dmitry Rybolovlev, owner of the French soccer club AS Monaco would have to pay his ex-wife Elena Rybolovleva, a Swiss citizen, an amount of 4,020,555,987.80 Swiss francs ($4,509,375,184.80) as alimony. The couple are both aged 47 and have two daughters, including a 13-year-old.
The report adds that the Russian billionaire would have to grant his ex-wife property worth 130.5 million francs ($146 million) in Gstaad, Switzerland as well where he owns two chalets. Another expensive property, which has not been valued yet, would also be inherited by the woman in Geneva’s posh Cologny area, where the couple once used to live. Apart from material wealth, the woman also gets custody of their teenage daughter, Anna.
According to Ms.Elena’s lawyer Marc Bonnant, this is the most “expensive divorce in history” with the eye-popping amount unlikely to be matched by anyone else any time soon. However, he added that the Russian billionaire has 30 days to contest this ruling and appeal against the judgment. According to two other lawyers representing the woman, the verdict is a complete victory for her while adding that, under Swiss law, the wife is entitled to half the fortune that the husband makes after their marriage. The lawyers also said that the ruling only asserts the impartiality of the Swiss judiciary with even a Russian billionaire with all his money and power not being able to influence the judgment. The ruling which gave the ex-wife $4.4 billion might actually come as a relief to the Russian billionaire since her original demand was for $6 billion!
The Russian billionaire, Dmitry Rybolovlev, also known as the “Fertilizer King” was once the world’s 79th richest person but has since his peak fallen down to the 147th position on the Forbes List of billionaires with an overall worth of $8.8 billion. He made his fortune from potash mining. Dmitry and Elena first met back in 1987 as students in Perm, Russia and got married the same year. Their divorce proceedings have been underway since 2008. Back then, Dmitry’s net worth was valued at over $12.8 billion. Prior to this ruling, another Swiss court had issued orders to freeze Rybolovlev’s assets in Switzerland.
The Russian billionaire and his elder daughter Ekaterina is also known to have acquired some of the most expensive real estate pieces in the US as well. This includes a penthouse apartment at Central Park West in New York as well as a mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.
What do you think about this world’s most expensive divorce settlement? Does the Russian billionaire’s wife actually deserve this kind of money?
[Image via Cyprus Mail]
