(AP) — The chairman and CEO of energy giant Continental Resources, Inc. must pay his ex-wife nearly $1 billion as part of a divorce settlement, an Oklahoma judge ruled Monday. Oklahoma County District Judge Howard Haralson's order directs Harold Hamm to pay his ex-wife, Sue Ann Hamm, $995.4 million for "property division alimony." Harold Hamm was directed to pay $322 million to Sue Ann Hamm by the end of the year, with minimum payments of $7 million each month starting in January to pay off the remaining balance.
Telephone messages left Monday with attorneys for each side were not immediately returned. A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City-based company said the couple's divorce is a private matter that will not have any effect on Continental Resources' business operations. "Out of respect for this private matter that has now been concluded, the company will have no further comment," Continental spokeswoman Kristin Miskovsky said in a statement.
The judge's order states that marital assets awarded to Harold Hamm totaled more than $2 billion. The judge also ordered most of the transcripts and court filings in the divorce case to remain sealed. The couple has been married since 1988. Sue Ann Hamm filed for divorce in 2012. She was awarded the couple's $4.6 million marital home in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma, an $800,000 home in Enid, Oklahoma, and a $17.4 million home in Carmel Valley, California.
Harold Hamm was awarded a $750,000 home in Branson, Missouri, along with a log cabin and 154 acres in Major County, Oklahoma, valued at about $300,000.