There’s an old saying that men like to use that goes a little something like this, “It’s cheaper to keep her,” and while it’s far from classy or even remotely appropriate, it’s true in the case of Monaco Football Club owner Dmitry Rybolovlev, 47. He was ordered to give half of his $5.8 billion (converted to American dollars from Swiss Francs) to his former wife of 24 years.
After a nearly six year divorce process, the billionaire now has to give his ex-wife approximately $2.9 billion. The divorce proceedings took such a long time because Elena Rybolovlev, who was married to her now ex-husband for 24 years, contested the terms of the divorce several times. The billionaire made the bulk of his fortune with his fertilizer business, and his ex-wife probably thinks he’s very similar to his fertilizer at this point. After filing for divorce on the basis that her ex was unfaithful to her, she refused to sign her divorce papers until she maintained ownership of three of the most expensive homes in the world.
This includes two United States properties that are listed among the most expensive in the country, as well as the couple’s Greek home, which is worth $100 million. Mr. Rybolovlev contested her claims to ownership, and finally agreed to pay his now ex half of his net worth.
While there have been some exceptionally expensive divorces in the history of wealthy couples (think Michael Jordan and his ex or Paul McCartney and Heather Mills), none come anywhere close to the amount of money Mr. Rybolovlev has to give his ex-wife.
The reward likely feels good to Ms. Rybolovlev, who currently resides in a lakefront mansion in Geneva. Whether or not she was awarded the three properties she so wanted for six years remains unclear, but what is clear is that if not, she can just buy more.
(Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)
