Private equity executive Randy Work ordered to make £72m divorce payout to ex-wife Mandy Gray by top London court
A former private equity exec has been ordered to pay his ex-wife £72m – much more than he'd been offering.
Randy Work, a former exec at Lone Star, said his estranged wife Mandy Gray should receive just £5m ($7.5m) of his wealth. He said his £150m ($225m) pot was protected by a post-nuptial agreement originally signed in Texas.
Work's lawyers said his "special contribution" meant he should be awarded a greater share of the couple's fortune. But the judge refuted this, saying that his wife had also made a special sacrifice in raising their family.
"This should be the easiest of cases to settle," the judges said in their ruling according to the Financial Times. However, the hearing process had instead suffered from "unedifying and destructive pugilism".
A number of divorces involving high net worth individuals, subsequently resulting in large payouts for the wives, has earned the city its reputation as divorce capital of the world.
Last year hedge fund titan Sir Chris Hohn was ordered to pay his estranged wife, Jamie Cooper-Hohn, £337m, in what is thought to be the largest ever settlement in a UK divorce case.
The legal precedent, which can be traced back to White v White, a divorce case that took place over ten years ago, comes from the judge saying cash left over after divorcees' needs have been met should be split equally.