CEO's ex-wife plans to appeal ruling that awarded her $1 billion in divorce

An Oklahoma County judge awarded $995.4 million this week to Sue Ann Hamm, who was married for more than 20 years to Continental Resources Inc. CEO Harold Hamm before she filed for divorce in 2012.

Her attorney, Ron Barber, told The Oklahoman newspaper that they plan to appeal, saying the amount is less than 6 percent of the couple’s estimated $18 billion wealth. Harold Hamm was an early believer in the Bakken oil shale formation, which is spurring the oil boom in western North Dakota. The state is now the nation’s second largest oil producer behind Texas.

Harold Hamm has been directed to pay $322 million to his ex-wife by the end of the year, then minimum payments of $7 million each month starting in January.

A spokeswoman for his Oklahoma City-based company, Kristin Miskovsky, said Friday that the settlement has no impact on the company’s business or operations. She declined further comment.

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.

Sue Ann Hamm 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.