This week in Oklahoma, the divorce proceedings between Harold Hamm and his wife Sue Ann begins. Hamm is the majority shareholder Continental Resources, the largest oil driller in the Bakken Shale formation that overlaps Montana, North Dakota and into Canada's Saskatchewan region. The company had always touted Harold Hamm's hard work in getting Continental Resources to the top. But now in the divorce proceedings, his lawyers are trying to quiet that reputation. They are trying to make him seem like he had very little to do with the success of his company.
The reason for that is the settlement. If they can prove the factors that led to Continental Resources' success had nothing to do with him in particular — the rising price of oil, for example — then he could get a majority verdict, taking most the lion's share of the 68% he owns of the $28 billion company. Of course, there's the other side of the coin.
His wife, Sue Ann, is in a unique position for a future ex-wife. She needs to sing his praises all throughout the divorce hearings.
For more:
Billion-dollar debate in Oklahoma divorce: Was oilman just lucky? (Reuters)