When a billion-dollar divorce isn't enough

An Oklahoma judge recently awarded Sue Ann Hamm a $1 billion divorce settlement in her split from her husband of 26 years, Harold, but she’s appealing because—despite having received one of the largest cash settlements in history—she doesn’t think she’s getting enough. Greedy? Well, not really. At the time of the decision, Harold Hamm, the oil-and-gas man who’s the CEO of Continental Resources, was the 24th-richest man in the country, with a fortune of some $18.7 billion. That judgement therefore amounted to just 5 percent of his wealth. Several other members of The Forbes 400 have parted with much larger portions of their pile when wedded bliss fizzled.


Steve Wynn
2010
Settlement: $740 million
Share of net worth: 32%
The casino mogul and his wife, Elaine, were actually married before, for 23 years, before divorcing in 1986, remarrying in 1991 and then divorcing again.

Rupert Murdoch
1999
Settlement: $1.7 billion
Share of net worth: 25%
This was Murdoch’s second divorce; he’d marry his third wife, Wendi Deng (whom he also later divorced), just 17 days later.

Craig Mccaw
1997
Settlement: $460 million
Share of net worth: 23%
He got the house, she got the Gulfstream, but for five days a month they agreed to swap.

Stewart rahr
2013
Settlement: $250 million
Share of net worth: 16%
“My divorce … was phenomenal. I love that girl.”

(All figures reflect net worth at the time of divorce settlement)