Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, once the world’s 79th richest person according to Forbes and owner of the French soccer club AS Monaco, has been asked by a Swiss Court to pay an astounding $4.5 billion to his ex-wife, Elena Rybolovleva. This kind of a divorce settlement has never been heard before and is all set to enter the record books if the man does not appeal or loses his appeal.
The Swiss court has in its landmark ruling through the Geneva Tribunal of First Instance, ordered Dmitry to pay as alimony to his ex-wife, a Swiss citizen, the amount of 4,020,555,987.80 Swiss francs ($4,509,375,184.80). The couple have been married since 1987 and have two daughters, the ex-wife also gets custody of their 13-year-old.
According to USA Today,
Her lawyer Marc Bonnant called it "the most expensive divorce in history" — an unheard-of amount for Switzerland and for Russian oligarchs — but said he expected an appeal within 30 days.
A separate statement by Bonnant and two other lawyers in the case, Corinne Corminboeuf Harari and Caroline Schumacher, called the record judgment "a complete victory" for her and said that under Swiss law she was entitled to half the fortune he made during their marriage. Most of his fortune was transferred to Cyprus-based trusts in 2005.
"One may reasonably presume that Mr. Rybolovlev will appeal," her lawyers said. "But the judgment shows already that, for the Geneva Tribunal of First Instance, no one — not even a Russian tycoon who put his fabulous fortune into legal structures such as trusts and offshore companies — is above the law."
Rybolovlev's lawyer declined to comment.
His ex-wife had demanded $6 billion from the man known as the "fertilizer king," whose fortune from potash mining once made him the world's 79th richest person. He is now ranked 147th on the Forbes list of billionaires, with an estimated fortune of $8.8 billion.
What do you think about this world’s most expensive divorce settlement? Does an ex-wife or ex-husband actually deserve this kind of money?
[Image via Cyprus Mail]
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