As reported by media both local and abroad, billionaire Harold Hamm may be facing the single-most expensive divorce as he ends his 25-year union with wife Sue Ann Hamm, due to Oklahoma divorce laws and the increased value that his company gained during their marriage.
Hamm is reputedly worth $11.2 billion and runs the large petrol company, Continental Resources.
Rupert Murdoch had set the previous record for having the costliest divorce when he ended his 32-year union with his wife Anna. Anna Murdoch's attorney, Daniel Jaffe, told reporters that Sue Ann Hamm should "claim that a portion of her efforts went into making the company what it is today…She was married to him when the value of the company went up. She has got to be looking for a couple of billion dollars."
As the couple resided together in the state of Oklahoma, the law there states that Hamm may have to give Mrs. Hamm half of the wealth he has amassed leading Continental Resources.
A U.S. court has subpoenaed four companies, additional to Continental Resources, which are also owned by Hamm.
Hamm, 67, earned his wealth as a leader in the American oil boom. He is also known for being the senior energy advisor to Mitt Romney during his presidential campaign, he was named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine, and he ranked 90th on Forbes' global wealth list.
Sue Ann Hamm, 56, worked for Continental Resources – in key positions – during their marriage. She is an economist and lawyer. The fact that she worked for the company is thought to make a large difference in settling the divorce in her favor.
The couple married in 1988 and they have two adult children. This is Hamm's second divorce, a previous marriage ended in 1987. In that union Hamm had three children.
Sue Ann Hamm has alleged in court that the reason she is seeking a divorce is because her husband was not faithful.
During the marriage Continental Resources grew large and profitable. In the possibility that there may not have been a pre-nuptial agreement, Mrs. Hamm could be awarded billions of dollars.
"I don't know of anything that's ever been this big. There's just so much money involved," commented Barbara Atwood, a professor emeritus of family law at the University of Arizona.
Hamm was the youngest of 13 children raised in a sharecropper's family. He started working at a young age by picking cotton and scrubbing oil barrels. As he worked his way up he began drilling his own wells and by the 1990s he helped discover the Bakken field of North Dakota.
The Bakken field is the largest new U.S. oil prospect in over fifty years.
Besides Hamm's five companies the couple must also divide four homes.
A confidentiality agreement prevents either Hamm to comment.
If you are moving toward a divorce, contact a family law attorney to help you sort out what type of settlement is due, as well as other issues such as child custody and support.