A judge found Continental Resources CEO Harold Hamm owes nearly $1 billion to his wife as a result of their lengthy divorce settlement, one of the largest in US history. Hamm, former Mitt Romney energy adviser, gets to keep his 253 million shares of Continental stock valued at $13.7 billion. He must pay his now ex-wife Sue Ann $323 million by the end of the year and $7 million a month plus interest until the balance is paid.

This is largely viewed as a victory for Hamm who could have had to pay as much as $5 billion by one estimate. “While a billion dollars is nothing to sneeze at, Harold Hamm and his attorneys left the courtroom very well aware that they had scored a very huge victory,” Seymour J. Reisman, a divorce lawyer with the New York firm of Reisman, Peirez, Reisman and Capobianco, told Bloomberg in an e-mail.

Apparently Hamm’s attorneys sought to downplay his role in the company’s success and the “company history” section of Continental’s website was altered. It doesn’t appear that made much difference in the end however.

“We think this is a fair and equitable outcome of the case,” said Mike Burrage, one of Harold Hamm’s attorneys. – The Oklahoman