Man worth $11.8bn strikes deal with wife

Their marriage was anything but ordinary. Their divorce has been extraordinary.

He is a Russian billionaire worth $11.8 billion, and she is the thorn in his side expected to take half of his money in a drawn-out divorce labelled the “costliest breakup of all time”.

Dmitry and Elena Rybolovleva were college sweethearts. They met on their first day of university in the Russian city of Perm. His stock rose quickly. Very quickly.

Before long, he was one of Russia’s — and the world’s — richest men, a wealth acquired via the doctor-turned-entrepreneur’s booming fertiliser business.

She was there for the good times and there for the bad times, including the 11 months her husband was in jail. He was accused of murder but the charges were later dropped.

The love story included two children, mansions around the world, Central Park apartments and Swiss ski chalets. It was the best that money and love could buy, but it all began to unravel in the mid-2000s.

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