Russian tycoon ordered to pay US$4.5b in ‘most expensive divorce in history’
Court orders Russian tycoon to pay US$4.5b cash settlement - and that's on top of US$146m pair of Swiss chalets and other real estate in Geneva
A Swiss court has ordered a Russian billionaire to pay more than US$4.5 billion to his ex-wife in what could become the biggest divorce settlement in history.
The judgment also granted his former wife property worth US$146 million in Gstaad, Switzerland, where the couple, both 47, owned two chalets.
It awarded her two other pieces of real estate in the ultra-wealthy area of Geneva known as Cologny, where the couple once lived together, but listed no value for either address. And it confirmed her custody of their 13-year-old daughter, Anna. The former couple also have an adult daughter, Ekaterina.
Rybolovleva's lawyer, Marc Bonnant, called it "the most expensive divorce in history", an unheard-of amount for Switzerland and for Russian oligarchs.
But Rybolovlev's lawyer said the judgment's cash order was likely to be whittled down on appeal. "There will definitely be a new appellate review and therefore this judgment is not final given the existence of two levels of appeal in Switzerland," said Tetiana Bersheda.