Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, a Dubai sheikh was recently ordered to pay a whopping sum of $700 million to his ex-wife in a divorce settlement for her ponies, slew of armored vehicles & upkeep of mansions. The settlement comes as one of the biggest settlements in the legal history of Britain. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum is the ruler of Dubai and was in a long legal battle with his estranged wife Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein.
The couple got married in 2004 and a divorce was filed in 2019. As the legal battle came to an end, the UK judge asked the Sheikh to make a 251.5 million pounds payment in the next three months. The estranged wife had claimed that she was owed the money for her future security costs, costs of raising her children, upkeep of her mansions and racehorses.
Background
In 2019, Amazon’s founder and then CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife Mackenzie Bezos had a divorce. As the wife of one of the richest men in the world, Mackenzie received a jaw-dropping $38 billion as part of the divorce settlement. To put this into context she thirty times more than the second highest divorce settlement amount – $1.3 billion, which was received by Sue Gross, wife of investor Bill Gross.
This number could’ve been overshadowed by Melinda Gates who after her divorce with Bill Gates stood to receive a few billion dollars. But due to the ‘no money judgement’ where neither the spouses sought support, Melinda didn’t receive any such support.
Recently the Sheikh of Dubai has been making waves for having to give over $700 million to his estranged wife as divorce settlement.
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The Facts of the Matter
The UK High Court this week awarded a whopping $733 million settlement to Princess Haya Bint Al-Hussain. She was the wife of Dubai’s ruler, and is also the daughter of Jordan’s former ruler. Other than being the ruler of Dubai, her husband Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum is also the Prime Minister of UAE, and horse-racing fanatic.
Why Was the Divorced Filed At the First Place?
The custody battle shed the light on Middle-eastern royal families and the threats women continue facing in such families. In 2019, Princess Haya fled to Britain from Dubai claiming that she and her children were under threat. She also claimed that the Sheikh had kidnapped their daughters and had brought them back to Dubai against their wishes.
After she fled to Britain, she continued receiving threats and has since spent abundantly in the security measures for herself and her children.
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Sheikh Also Hacked Phones of Princess and Her Personnel
During the trial, the UK High Court ruled that the Sheikh had hacked the phones of the Princess, her legal team, and those who were close to her. While the Sheikh denied such allegations, the court found evidences to state the contrary.
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Millions of Dollars Granted to Princess Haya
As part of the settlement, the princess will be provided with vast sums of money to cover the cost of her million-pound properties in London and Surrey.
Further, she will also be provided money for the holidays, salaries and accommodations that will be made for the nannies and medical team for her children.
Moreover, for her slew of armored vehicles, money will be put down separately, as would be the case with her ponies and other pets.
