The costliest divorce of all

Geneva: Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and his ex-wife Elena on Wednesday announced they had reached a deal to settle their divorce, which had been dubbed the costliest break-up of all time. In May, 2014, a Swiss court awarded Elena Rybolovlev over $4.2 billion the equivalent of half his fortune, in their divorce, which at the time was dubbed the divorce of the century.

 

On Wednesday the pair said in a joint statement that they had “reached an agreement on the terms of the divorce” in a move they said “puts an end to all legal procedures launched in different jurisdictions.” 

 

The agreement came after a Geneva appeals court in June overturned the 2014 ruling, downgrading the payment required from the owner of French football club AS Monaco to 564 million Swiss francs, along with two real estate holdings.

 

One of the contentious points was Rybolovlev's worth, as he had transferred shares in 2005 to a trust and then sold them three years later at a huge profit. His ex-wife’s lawyers argued that the appeals court calculated his net worth on the basis of the 2005 figures and not the 2008 ones. Following the agreement announced on Wednesday, the court will no longer be called upon to rule in the case.