Billionaire Chelsea Owner Abramovich Divorces Wife

The Russian tycoon Roman Abramovich has divorced his wife in what is thought to be one of the world's largest divorce settlements, it was reported today.

The billionaire owner of Chelsea football club divorced his wife, Irina, on a "consensual basis" in Russia.

In a statement, the couple said they had agreed a financial settlement and an arrangement over access to their five children. Reports on the size of the settlement vary from £1bn to £5.5bn.

Mr Abramovich's spokesman, John Mann, said Chelsea would not be affected by the divorce proceedings.

He added that the couple, who had reportedly been married for 15 years, would be making no further comment and would "appreciate it if the family's privacy would be respected".

The divorce announcement was reported to have been prompted by paparazzi pictures of Mr Abramovich - whose fortune is estimated at £11bn - with Daria Zhukova, a young student.

Lawyers for the woman blocked the sale of the pictures to the media, claiming they had been taken without permission.

Mr Abramovich appears in Forbes magazine's list of the world's 50 richest people and is second in the Sunday Times rich list. He made his first fortune through oil deals in Russia's 1990s privatisation boom following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The tycoon earned a significant amount from his involvement as a major shareholder in Sibneft, the world's fourth largest oil company, the Russian airline Aeroflot and the country's aluminium industry.

That wealth that allowed him to buy debt-ridden Chelsea in 2003, turning it into one of the world's biggest-spending clubs.

The collapse of his marriage is the latest involving the super-rich. The insurance magnate John Charman is currently trying to claw back more than half the biggest award in British legal history from his former wife.

Mr Charman, who owns the Axis insurance group, is arguing in the court of appeal that his £20m offer was more than adequate and a £70m family trust should not have been taken into account when the total assets of the marriage were assessed at £131m.

His former wife, 53-year-old Beverley Charman, was awarded £48m by the high court last year.

Divorce lawyers said at the time of the ruling - which reduced Mr Charman's wealth to around £87m - that the case was likely to have ramifications for the forthcoming case between Heather Mills and Sir Paul McCartney.

If Mr Abramovich had divorced in the UK, his wife could have entitled to half his fortune following a landmark House of Lords ruling last year.

Divorce lawyers said the ruling - which lays down guidelines for the courts on how to split the assets between partners in multi-million pound settlements - would lead to wealthy individuals filing for divorce in countries more favourbale to their situation in a settlement.

Based on two cases - McFarlane v McFarlane and Miller v Miller - it took into consideration the sacrifices and contributions made by wives during a marriage, with compensation no longer based purely on living expenses.