Hong Kong tycoon's ex-wife wins record 157-million-dollar payout

Dec 2, 2011, 1:45 GMT

Hong Kong - The former wife of a Hong Kong property tycoon was awarded a record divorce payout equivalent to 157 million US dollars, a news report said Friday.

The payout of 1.22 billion Hong Kong dollars awarded Thursday in the High Court to Florence Tsang, 38, is the highest awarded in open court in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Standard reported.

The award took into account the maintenance required for Tsang's Hong Kong property worth 32 million US dollars, a 4-million-US-dollar London property and a 640,000-US-dollar yacht. It gave her a fixed sum of 27.6 million US dollars to support her for life.

The award was equivalent to about one-fifth of the assets held by Tsang and Samathur Li, who married in 2000 and separated in 2008, the Standard said. Li was earlier this year estimated to have a fortune of 826 million US dollars.

Hong Kong's highest court last year ruled that in calculating divorce settlements, a 50-50 split would be used as a starting point.

Tsang had sought 55 per cent of the matrimonial assets while Li and his father had offered a one-off payment equivalent to 26 million US dollars, the Standard said.