美國石油大王婚變，鉅額財產如何分割？

Harold Hamm is an unlikely billionaire: the 13th child of Oklahoma sharecroppers whose identity as a self-made man could just be his downfall in his impending divorce battle.

Hamm, the founder and CEO of Continental Resources, is the world's 34th-richest person in the world, with a personal fortune of an estimated $20.3 billion.

The oilman is in the second week of a divorce hearing from his wife of 25 years, Sue Ann, and experts say the only way he can avoid paying half of his assets - and possibly losing a controlling share of his company - is to argue that his fortune is the result of sheer dumb luck.

The amount divisible in the divorce settlement is $17 billion.

Legally, if Hamm can prove that the appreciation of the marital assets was passive, rather than an active attempt by him to increase his wealth, then they will remain his property.

'You have a piece of vacant land before you get married, a separate property. If you do nothing about it and by passive acts it increases [in value], for instance they build a railroad next door or a road, fine, it’s passive,' prominent New York divorce attorney Raoul Felder told Yahoo Finance.

'But if you make a victory garden on there or you build a house, it’s now active.'

In essence, for Hamm to keep the $17 billion in question, he would have to contradict the popular image of himself that he has projected for decades as an astute businessman and innovator and instead say he simply got lucky.

The analysis of Kenneth Button, an expert witness hired by Hamm's wife Sue Ann, was laid out in court testimony and in a document provided to Reuters by Oklahoma County Judge Howard Haralson. It is one of the first pieces of financial testimony to be released from the trial, which has been conducted mostly in secrecy.

Unusually for a divorce case, Haralson has barred the public from the courtroom on most days and sealed most of the evidence. He says he is trying to protect shareholders in Hamm's Continental Resources from the release of confidential business information.

Through his 68 percent stake in Continental, a leading driller in North Dakota, Harold Hamm is believed to own the most oil in the ground of any American.

The family also worked to keep word of the divorce from going public. The case was originally titled Jane Doe vs. John Doe when Sue Ann filed the suit in 2012, alleging that her husband was unfaithful. The identity of the parties was only discovered in March of 2013.

The couple was married in 1988 and has two daughters, Jane and Hillary, from the marriage. The family split its time between four homes, including a two-mansion family enclave in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma, with its own combination basketball and tennis court, which the couple bought in 2009. Harold Hamm also has three children from a marriage that ended in divorce in 1987.

Behind closed doors, the case has had its own sensationalistic highlights. Sue Ann went through the trouble of installing surveillance equipment in the home beginning in 2007, according to court documents. One bill alone was to the tune of $9,866.09. Lawyers for Harold are demanding the 'home video or audio recordings' be turned over, in an attempt to show their separation effectively occurred before 2012.

The recently introduced document, a trial exhibit marked 'confidential business information,' is a 122-page report compiled by Button, a PhD economist. Haralson released the report after determining it isn’t subject to the protective order he has placed in the case.

Button's report contends that up to $15 billion of the growth in Continental's market capitalization during the period he studied is 'active' marital capital, or subject to division between the spouses. Button crunched data from the years between the couple’s 1988 wedding and February 2014.

Since then, Continental's value has grown by nearly $4 billion more, adding to the wealth the court may divide, Button said in court earlier in August. About $2.6 billion of that appreciation would accrue to Harold through his 68 per cent stake in Continental.

All told, Button's analysis suggests that the marital capital subject to division could add up to some $17.6 billion.

If Judge Haralson accepts Button's reasoning and awards Sue Ann a significant share of the marital estate, the Hamm split could yield the largest divorce settlement ever. If Hamm has to sell Continental shares to finance a large settlement, his control of the company could be eroded.

Attorneys for Harold Hamm and for Continental didn't respond to questions from Reuters. Harold's witnesses will testify later in the trial, which began last week and is expected to end in October.

What caused Continental's increase in value is critical to the outcome. Under Oklahoma law, any increase in the Hamms' net worth resulting from the active efforts of either spouse during the marriage is considered part of the marital estate.

The dubious distinction of most expensive divorce settlement goes to Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev, who forked over $4.5 billion to his ex-wife Elena after their divorce concluded this year.

The marriage of Elena and Dmitry, both 47, had soured recently, leading into a years-long divorce proceeding.

'He was not very subtle with his infidelities,' Elena's lawyer David Newman told the Daily News of Dmitry.

The business magnate, nicknamed the 'fertilizer king,' was valued around $8.8 billion.

During the divorce, he unloaded cash on various properties, including a share in French soccer club AS Monaco, two islands belonging to Aristotle Onassis and a $88 million apartment overlooking Central Park for his then-college-age daughter.

Rybolovlev also reportedly had the opportunity to save himself some money.

A $1 billion settlement deal was offered by Elena shortly before the court's decision that was nixed by a lawyer for Dmitry's trust.

The divorce was first filed in 2008, when Elena said she had finally had enough with her husband's unfaithfulness. In documents submitted to the court, Elena described wild yacht parties where Dmitry shared 'young conquests with his friends, and other oligarchs.'

Continental's impressive growth itself isn't in dispute. According to Button's report, the Oklahoma-based driller was valued at between $10 million and $50 million when the couple wed in 1988. It is now worth around $27 billion.

Sue Ann Hamm's legal team contends that this growth resulted largely from the active leadership and astute decision-making of Harold. He is widely credited as a pioneer in developing the Bakken Shale formation of North Dakota, America's largest oil discovery in decades.

Harold's attorneys will try to show that Continental's growth resulted mostly from factors beyond his control. They signaled this strategy in their cross-examination of Button, pressing the economist to consider that external forces, such as higher oil prices and new drilling technologies, were decisive factors in Continental’s success.

Button is trying to undercut Harold's position by comparing Continental's spectacular growth with that of rivals. The margin by which Continental's financial returns outpaced those of similar oil and gas companies should be considered Continental's 'active' appreciation, the Button report says.

It compares Continental's financial returns to those of 76 other publicly traded US independent drillers.

Continental and these 'peer companies,' the report says, faced similar risks, opportunities and market conditions - such as fluctuating oil prices, choices among technologies and drilling locations, and methods to raise and deploy capital.

Continental's return on investment was at least 44,271 percent during the Hamm marriage, Button wrote. The average return among peers - extrapolated over the same period - was a relatively modest 691 percent, the report says.

Continental's outsize returns compared to its competitors are 'likely the results of difference over time in the specific operational decisions and actions of the management of these companies.'

Hamm founded Continental in 1967, two decades before his marriage to Sue Ann, a former attorney at the company.

Continental has said the divorce is a private matter that hasn't affected the business and isn't expected to. At the same time, Continental attorneys have submitted hundreds of thousands of pages of documents in the trial in support of Harold. They also have repeatedly persuaded the judge to seal evidence and close the courtroom to avoid damaging Continental's interests.據《每日郵報》網站8月28日報道，哈姆是大陸資源公司(Continental Resources CLR)的創始人兼CEO，福布斯富豪榜上第34位，個人資產達203億美元（約1251億元）。哈姆與結婚25年的妻子蘇安（SueAnn）離婚案已經到了第二週，專家稱，分給蘇安一半財產很可能使哈羅德失去大陸資源控制權，避免這種情況發生的唯一辦法就是哈姆用所有財富都是純粹靠狗屎運得來的來辯護。

離婚財產協議中可分割的財產是170億美元（約1048億元）。

法律上，如果哈姆有證據證明婚姻資產的增值是被動的，不是自己主動掙得的，那麼他的財產將不會被分割。

紐約著名離婚律師拉烏爾·菲爾德告訴雅虎財經稱，“在你結婚之前你有一塊空地，這是你的獨立資產。你什麼都沒做，因被動行爲（比如在空地周圍修建了鐵路或者公路，這些是被動的）它增值了，那麼離婚時這份財產不會被分割。”

“不過，如果你主動建了一個花園或是在空地上蓋了房子，那麼這筆錢就是“有效”的。這份財產離婚時要進行分割。”

實質上，且不論哈姆能不能一分不差得到這170億美元，哈姆給公衆的形象是一名白手起家的精明商人和創新者，如果他承認自己幾十年來全憑運氣致富，他的形象將大打折扣。

哈姆的妻子蘇安僱了一位專家證人，在法庭上提交了肯尼斯·巴頓的一份分析報告，俄克拉荷馬州法官霍華德·哈拉爾森（Howard Haralson）將這份報告提供給了路透社。

這是第一次金融審判證詞公佈於衆，大部分情況下證詞都是保密的。

這件離婚案比較特殊，多數情況下，法官哈拉爾森並不允許法庭公開，大部分證據也被密封存檔。哈拉爾森稱此舉是爲了保護哈姆在大陸資源的商業機密。

憑藉持有大陸資源的68%的股份，以及美國北達科他州的主要石油開採商的身份，哈羅德·哈姆成爲公認的擁有美國大部分石油的人。

哈姆一家此前努力不讓離婚消息公佈於衆。蘇安曾對哈姆提出訴訟，指控丈夫有外遇，但當時兩人並未使用真名立案，直到2003年3月，該案當事人身份才被曝光。

這對夫婦於1988年結婚，當時已有兩個女兒，簡（Jane）和希拉里(Hillary)。共有四項房產，包括尼克爾斯山的豪宅，以及09年購買的自帶籃球網球場的俄克拉荷馬州的一處房產。

在此樁離婚案的背後，也有許多不爲人知的細節。據法庭文件顯示，2007年起蘇安在家中安裝了監控設備，哈姆的律師爲了向法庭證實雙方在2012年以前已經分居，要求蘇安上交“家庭錄像或錄音”。

最近公佈的文件報告，也被法庭命爲機密文件，是由經濟學博士巴頓寫的長達122頁的報告。哈拉爾森認爲這份報告在此案件中不是受保護的文件，後將其公開。

巴頓的報告認爲，在他研究期間，大陸資源資本增長中有150億美元是“有效”婚姻資產，或者說是包含在夫妻分割財產中的。巴頓研究的數據範圍是1988這對夫妻婚禮開始到2014年2月份。

巴頓8月份在法庭上稱，從結婚開始，大陸資源價值增長了近40億美元，並稱這比財產也應分割。其中增值的26億美元也使得哈羅德·哈姆擁有了68%的股份。

總而言之，巴頓的分析表明，可分割的婚姻資產可以增加到176億美元。

如果法官哈拉爾森同意巴頓的分析，那麼哈姆將支付歷來最貴的離婚分手費。如果哈姆將其大陸資源的股份出售已支付分手費，哈姆在大陸公司的控制權將大大受損。

哈羅德·哈姆的律師也是大陸資源的律師並未回答路透社提的任何問題。哈姆的證人之後將出席法庭。此次審判預計在10月份結束。

到底是什麼導致了大陸資源價值的增長是本案的關鍵。因爲俄克拉荷馬州法律規定，夫妻雙方主動掙得的淨資產都將視爲婚姻財產的一部分。

引人注目的並不是大陸資源的價值增長，巴頓在報告中指出1988年這對夫妻結婚時，在俄克拉荷馬州的鑽牀價值1000-5000萬美元。現在價值270億美元。

蘇安的法律團隊認爲，這種價值增長很大程度上因爲哈姆的領導和精明決策。哈姆是北達科他州巴肯頁岩（幾十年來美國最大的石油發現）的先驅。

而哈姆的律師試圖表明大陸資源的增長主要源於一些他無法控制的因素。他們向巴頓提出質疑，讓巴頓考慮外部力量比如：石油價格上漲、新的鑽井技術。這些也是大陸資源成功的必要條件。

巴頓將哈姆與其他競爭對手比較分析，以此來反駁哈姆。巴頓報告稱，大陸資源金融回報的利潤遠遠超過了類似的石油和天然氣公司，因此大陸資源可以視作主動認爲的增值。

報告還比較了其他76個公開交易的美國獨立鑽油業務。

大陸資源和這些“同行公司”面臨相同的風險，機會和市場條件，如油價波動、技術、鑽井位置、鑽井方法、籌集部署資金。

該報告稱，大陸資源的投資彙報遠遠超過其他同行公司。

大陸資源的高額回報和其競爭對手相比“可能差距在於具體的運營策略和行動，以及公司的管理方面。”

哈姆在1967年也正是和蘇安結婚前20年，創立了大陸資源。

大陸資源發表聲明稱，離婚時哈姆個人的事情，並沒有也不會影響到公司業務。與此同時，大陸資源的律師們也爲哈姆提供了成千上萬頁文件，以支持哈姆。他們也一再說服法官禁止法庭公開，密存各項證據，以避免損壞大陸資源的利益。

至今爲止世界上最貴的離婚案是俄羅斯的寡頭資本家德米特里（DmitryRybolovlev），年初他給了前妻45億美元的分手費。德米特里和埃琳娜（Elena）的婚姻經過長達一年的離婚訴訟後正式破裂。

商業巨頭。綽號“肥料王”的德米特里身價88億美元。

離婚期間，德米特里分割了各項資產，包括法國足球俱樂部，亞里士多德·奧納西斯（Aristotle Onassis）的兩個島嶼，價值8800萬美元俯瞰中央公園的公寓給了女兒。

德米特里稱自己也曾有不分割財產的機會。

埃琳娜曾向法庭提出和解協議，只要德米特里支付10億美元的和解費，然而德米特里的律師並沒有相信埃琳娜會這麼做。

2008年，埃琳娜以再也忍受不了丈夫不忠爲由提出離婚。並向法庭提交一份德米特里與朋友，其他寡頭在野生遊艇上聚會的材料。