💸 Divorce settlement fights: Hamm's returned check, Irving's 'lie'

Sue Ann Arnall sent back a ~$975M check, Amy Irving called her $100M figure 'a lie', Rybolovlev's accounts froze. Six fights over the money. 📌

By , money desk · Desk editor Laima Ērkšķe-Kreicberga · · 4 min read

Harold HammRANKEDPhoto: David Shankbone · CC BY 3.0

Photo: David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Desaturated and cropped by MrScandal.

What we know

  • An Oklahoma judge ordered oil executive Harold Hamm to pay his former wife, Sue Ann Arnall, nearly $1 billion; the Wall Street Journal reported she rejected his check for roughly $975 million, as lawyers for both sides confirmed.
  • Fox News reported that Jocelyn Wildenstein took home roughly $2.5 billion in her 1999 divorce from Alec Wildenstein, a record-breaker at the time; it was a press-reported figure, not a published decree.
  • Amy Irving told the Chicago Tribune in 1993 that she would not disclose her settlement with Steven Spielberg and called the widely quoted $100 million figure 'a lie'.
  • The New York Times reported that Elena Rybolovleva's divorce petition against Dmitry Rybolovlev was filed in Geneva; his lawyer called his trust arrangements 'succession planning', and her lawyers disputed that.

Most divorce rankings stop at the number. These six are about the fight over it: a check sent back, a sum its recipient calls a lie, a poverty plea against a record settlement, bank accounts frozen on New Year's Eve, a denial and a film credit that went missing. For the biggest sums alone, our list of the most expensive divorces ever ranks them by the dollar.

WhoYearMoney reportedThe fight
Harold Hamm2012-2015$975 million, court-orderedA judge's order, and a check sent back
Alec Wildenstein1999$2.3 billion plus $100 million a year for 13 years ($3.8 billion, Investopedia); about $2.5 billion taken home (Fox News)A poverty plea against a record settlement
Dmitry Rybolovlev2008No figure in the documents readA Geneva petition and a fight over where the assets sit
Paul McCartney2006No figure in the documents readPublic denials of a marriage crisis
Steven Spielberg1989$100 million reported; she calls it 'a lie'A famous number its recipient disowns
George Lucas1983US$50 million reportedHer film credit, not the cash
01

Harold Hamm: a judge's order, a check sent back

An Oklahoma judge ordered Harold Hamm, chief executive of Continental Resources, to pay his former wife, Sue Ann Arnall, nearly $1 billion to settle a 2 ½ year divorce, and the Wall Street Journal reported that she rejected his check for roughly $975 million, as lawyers for both sides confirmed. Court records show she filed on May 19, 2012, and in a filing Reuters reviewed Hamm said the couple separated in the fall of 2005, which her attorneys disputed. A check that size, it turns out, can still be sent back.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
02

Alec Wildenstein: the largest figure, with a poverty plea attached

Fox News reported that Jocelyn Wildenstein 'took home roughly $2.5 billion' in the 1999 settlement, which it called a record-breaker at the time; Alec Wildenstein died in 2008, per the same report. The Independent's obituary says that during the proceedings he pleaded poverty, claiming his earnings added up to a mere $175,000 a year. Investopedia reports the settlement was finalized in 1999 after two years of negotiations: a flat $2.3 billion plus $100 million a year for 13 years, $3.8 billion in all by its count. Fox News puts her take-home at roughly $2.5 billion.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
03

Dmitry Rybolovlev: a petition in Geneva and a fight over the assets

The New York Times reported that Elena Rybolovleva's divorce petition was filed in Geneva, and that Dmitry Rybolovlev learned of it on New Year's Eve 2008 from his bankers after his accounts were frozen, according to his lawyer, Tetiana Bersheda. The Times also reported that trusts linked to him and his eldest daughter spent more than $180 million in four years on a Palm Beach mansion and a Manhattan penthouse; Bersheda called the trusts 'succession planning', while Elena's lawyer said they were set up to keep assets out of reach of the Swiss court order. No settlement figure appears in the documents read.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
04

Paul McCartney: the denial on record, the number not

An Independent profile, written while the marriage was still going, records that when rumours of a marriage crisis followed Paul McCartney being pictured alone on holiday near Monaco, Heather Mills McCartney called them 'total rubbish' and said, 'It's hilarious. Paul and I are very much together.' The divorce came in 2006. No settlement figure and no comment from McCartney appear in the documents read.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
05

Steven Spielberg: a famous figure and a flat denial

The New York Daily News wrote that Amy Irving 'scored a $100 million divorce settlement' from Steven Spielberg, and said an ad hoc prenup 'reportedly' failed because it was scribbled on a napkin and she had no lawyer when she signed. Irving told the Chicago Tribune in 1993 that she would not disclose her settlement and called the widely quoted $100 million figure 'a lie'. No comment from Spielberg appears in the documents read.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)
06

George Lucas: a 1983 divorce and a credit that went missing

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that George and Marcia Lucas divorced in 1983; a settlement of US$50 million is reported for that year. News.com.au wrote that Marcia Lucas, who won the Academy Award for Film Editing for her work on Star Wars, 'has largely been erased from the history books', and that the divorce had a 'devastating effect' on George Lucas. Here the fight was over the credit, not the cash.

See the receipt (opens in a new tab)

The record-weighted order of the same divorces is in the MrScandal Pantheon, which scores each one on the money on record and how solid that record is.

Quick quiz · 3 questions

  1. On the record or still rumour?An Oklahoma judge ordered Harold Hamm to pay roughly $975 million; the Wall Street Journal reported the check was rejected, citing lawyers for both sides.
  2. On the record or still rumour?The Wildenstein $2.5 billion, the Spielberg $100 million and the Lucas $70 million ($US50 million) rest on press reports, not a published decree in the documents read.
  3. Which year?Ex-wife rejected check for about $975 million issued under a judge's divorce decree, per the Wall Street Journal

More games on the record: Price Tag · Timeline

By the numbers

  • 2y 8mfrom first to latest entry on recordMay 2012 to Jan 2015, 3 dated entries in the file
  • 11receipts behind this story10 news reports, 1 statement, 1993 to 2026
  • #1in most expensive divorcesAlec Wildenstein: Wildenstein divorce, 1999. Scandal Score 85 of 100
  • $4.9Bin 2026 dollarsOn record: $2.5 billion (1999), adjusted with US consumer prices

Counted by MrScandal from the receipts, the Files and our rankings.

Earlier on file: Most expensive divorces: Wildenstein's $2.5B tops our ranking

The Harold Hamm file

Last entry Jan 2015
  1. Ruled

    Ex-wife rejected check for about $975 million issued under a judge's divorce decree, per the Wall Street Journal. This story

  2. Ruled

    Oklahoma judge ordered about $975 million to ex-wife Sue Ann Arnall; she rejected the check, lawyers confirmed (WSJ). Most expensive divorces: Wildenstein's $2.5B tops our ranking

  3. Filed

    Sue Ann Hamm filed for divorce from Harold Hamm in Oklahoma, court records show, per Reuters. This story

On file: The Harold Hamm file · The Alec Wildenstein file · The Dmitry Rybolovlev file · The George Lucas file · The Steven Spielberg file

The Ledger

On the record

  • An Oklahoma judge ordered Harold Hamm to pay roughly $975 million; the Wall Street Journal reported the check was rejected, citing lawyers for both sides.
  • Elena Rybolovleva's petition was filed in Geneva, per the New York Times; Amy Irving called the $100 million Spielberg figure 'a lie', per the Chicago Tribune.

Still rumour

  • The Wildenstein $2.5 billion, the Spielberg $100 million and the Lucas $70 million ($US50 million) rest on press reports, not a published decree in the documents read.
  • No settlement figure for Rybolovlev or McCartney appears in the documents read.

That's the record. The rest is rumour. - MissFortune

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