Billionaire mocked ex-wife saying she'll end up at Tesco's — she walked away with a cool £230M in the divorce

No one enters a marriage expecting it to fall apart. But they say life is unpredictable, and sometimes relationships evolve in the most unexpected ways. When couples decide that they no longer want to live together, they either break up or file for divorce. Similarly, when a billionaire's wife decided to end her marriage, the court asked her ex-husband to pay £230 million as a divorce settlement, The Telegraph reported. Now, while paying alimony during separation is not very unusual in most divorce cases, this divorce case is a little strange. 

Though their names haven't been disclosed for privacy reasons, it is reported that the man had threatened his wife about ending up working at Tesco, a retail company. The billionaire's estranged wife filed for divorce because of his controlling or dominating nature. In fact, Justice Cobb found that the billionaire had intentionally pressured or intimidated his ex-wife to disturb her mentally. Not only that, but the Family Court also found that the couple, who shares three kids, had signed a postnuptial agreement in 2021, and the man was constantly bullying his former partner to follow the contract, or else she would go bankrupt and have to work as a cashier or checkout operator at Tesco.

"I am satisfied, from all that I have read and heard, that the wife was ultimately placed in a position of obvious disadvantage. I am further satisfied that the husband sought to frighten the wife by telling her that he would ‘explode’ the trusts and that consequently the family would become bankrupt," Justice Cobb said. Moreover, he said that the man had tried to isolate his former wife from her legal team for his own advantage. Meanwhile, the billionaire's ex-wife, who was quite affected by the relationship, was even diagnosed with anxiety and depression post their separation. In her statements, the judgment noted that she mentioned feeling "trapped" because of her ex-husband's behavior. 

The court believes that the ex-couple didn't come from a privileged background, nor had they seen such overwhelming wealth when they got married. The man had founded a technology company in 2012, which eventually made him a flourishing billionaire. Six years after building the company, they moved to the United Kingdom for a better education for their kids and security reasons in their country. Interestingly, by 2020, the couple was bound to follow the laws of "Country A," meaning that on divorce, they would have to equally divide all the wealth.

"In this landmark judgment, the Family Court has recognized the strain that a build-up of persistent and attritional conduct places on relationships and that this can ultimately erode a person’s free will," Claire Gordon, the Farrer and Co partner who presented the billionaire's ex-wife, said. Although in this case, you see a husband paying his wife alimony, in many instances, women, too, are asked to pay their ex-partners. In fact, as per a 2018 survey by the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 54% of the attorneys surveyed saw an increase in women paying for child support, and 45% observed a rise in women paying alimony. So, looking at the trend, it is safe to say the legal support is fair in its judgment of deciding who should pay the alimony.