Russian billionaire faces world’s biggest divorce after Bezos, Gates

His ex-wife, Natalia Potanina, is seeking 50% of the value of her stake in MMC Norilsk Nickel PJSC, the maximum amount outlined at a London court hearing on Tuesday. This amount could exceed $7 billion, given that Potanin owns about one-third of the shares in the metal producer.

Potanin is fighting the case after Potanin overturned a lower court that accused him of “divorce tourism.”

London’s divorce courts have been a popular destination for high-value legal disputes, where judges are usually prepared to order a more equal share of a couple’s property. In Britain, the largest publicly known payment in a divorce is currently £450 million ($631 million) to the wife of billionaire Farkhad Akhmedov – although the two have settled with a payment of less than a third of that amount.

Potanina said that in addition to Norilsk stock, she would be ready to accept 50% of all dividends on shares from 2014. Her ex-husband has since collected some 487.3 billion rubles ($6.6 billion) in dividends and has a net worth of $29.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Potanina is also asking for half the value of an expensive Russian property known as the Autumn House.

Potanina said she received about $40 million after the Russian divorce proceedings, while Potanin said she ended up with $84 million—an amount that is a “minor prize” by English standards, given her wealth and income. The length of their marriage of 31 years is given. The judge said in the last decision.

Potanina’s lawyer, Francis Hughes, declined to comment. A lawyer for Potanin did not immediately return emails seeking comment.

Another Russian billionaire, Dmitry Rybolovlev, was the subject of a high-profile divorce that surfaced in six courts and resulted in years of acrimony. In 2014, a Swiss judge awarded $4.5 billion to his ex-wife, Elena Rybolovleva, although a later ruling raised the amount to just over $600 million.