Sue Ann Hamm to Appeal $1 Billion Divorce Settlement
Sue Ann Hamm is appealing her $1 billion divorce settlement from her Oklahoma oil tycoon husband Harold Hamm that she received in court Monday. Hamm's ex-wife argues that her settlement, while massive, is small compared to the magnate's $18 billion fortune.
Sue Ann Hamm's appeal comes after being awarded $995 million by a judge and being awarded rights to keep the couple's California and Oklahoma properties, which are worth $4.7 million and $15 million, according to CBS news. Still, all but $1.4 billion of the Continental Resources founder and CEO's fortune will stay with him — a decision his ex-wife's lawyers called "not equitable."
$995 million plus the properties equals less than six percent of the Hamms' total wealth.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"She feels that an award of less than 6 percent of the couple's wealth, which had grown during the marriage up to the date of the trial by more than $18 billion, is not equitable," her attorney Ron Barber told The Oklahoman.
Sue Ann met Harold Hamm at Continental Resources, then a much smaller oil company, in 1967. She worked at the company on and off as an attorney and economist, one time even in charge of their crude marketing division. During some of her tenure she was also a stay at home mother with their children.
The divorce appeal can be heard in the State Court of Appeals panel or the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Reuters reported. The ruling to rescind the judgment, modify the reward, affirm the judgment or have the case retried can take up to several years.
Many divorce cases with billions of dollars at stake fall into the range of the ex-wife being awarded 25 to 33 percent of the couple's marital assets, divorce attorney Seymour J. Reisman told Bloomberg. For Hamm, that would be up to $5.1 billion.
