Record U.K. Divorce Settlement Set with $530 Million Payout

A hedge-fund couple has reached what is believed to be the largest divorce settlement on legal record in the U.K.

A London court has ordered British billionaire Chris Hohn to pay his estranged American-born wife Jamie Cooper-Hohn about $530 million, Reuters reports. The settlement was recorded in a draft judgment and could be altered before final publication on Dec. 12.

The ex-couple founded Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), a juggernaut of a private charity that has a investment fund worth roughly $4 billion. The pair, who were married for 17 years and have four children, hold a family fortune in the realm of $1.3 billion.

Cooper-Hohn, 49, had sought half the assets, but Hohn had said his talents in moneymaking counted as a special contribution to the marriage and entitled his wife to a quarter of the sum.

Hohn, 48, is the son of a Jamaican car mechanic, and neither he nor his ex-wife were well-off when they met at Harvard University, the Financial Times says. A judge said in court that the couple continued to live a “Swatch lifestyle” even after making billions.

The hefty settlement pales in comparison to the $4.5 billion payout that a Swiss court this spring ordered Russian tycoon Dmitri Rybolovlev to give his estranged wife, Elena.

Read more at Reuters