Oil exec Hamm ordered to pay ex-wife $1B

Continental Resources Inc. chief Harold Hamm has been ordered to pay his wife nearly $1 billion as part of a long-running divorce battle.

Hamm is the largest shareholder of oil producer Continental, leading to what may be the largest divorce ruling in history, the Oklahoman reported Monday.

{mosads}Hamm was awarded $2 billion of marital property and his ex-wife Sue Ann Hamm was given $25 million. The oil executive was then ordered to pay the difference between the awards to his ex-wife, coming out to $995 million.

Mike Burrage, an attorney for Hamm, said he thought the outcome was fair and equitable. Sue Ann Hamm’s attorneys were not prepared to judge the ruling.

The couple filed for divorce in 2012 after 24 years of marriage, citing “mutual irreconcilable differences,” the Oklahoman said.

Nine weeks of closed-door testimony, meant to protect Continental’s interests, ended last month.

Hamm, who founded Continental, was given his shares in the company as part of the ruling, worth about $13.7 billion, according to the Oklahoman. He also got to keep a house, an office building, a plane and two horses.

Sue Ann Hamm’s awards included a house and a ranch.