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$530M Divorce Payout Is a New Record

American wife gets half of British husband’s fortune.

Jamie Cooper-Hohn, the American ex-wife of British financier Sir Chris Hohn, has been awarded $530 million, in what is believed to be the biggest divorce payout ever made by a judge in England. Details of the figure emerged at a hearing in London on Thursday. Sir Chris had argued that his ex-wife should get a quarter of their fortune, but she successfully claimed she should get half because the wealth was created as a result of their “partnership.” In the course of the hearing, Sir Chris told the judge that money did not bring happiness, describing how he had seen poor children during a visit to the Philippines at 20 and vowed that if he ever had enough money to help them, he would. He said that by his mid-30s he had been in a position where he could retire and focus on raising money for charity.