Billion dollar divorce settlement marks China's most expensive divorce in history

File photo: Zhou Yahui

Zhou Yahui, chairman of the online gaming company Kunlun, has agreed to a divorce settlement with his wife Li Qiong, the company announced on Tuesday. The RMB 7.5 billion ($1.1 billion) divorce agreement stands as the Chinese A-share market's most expensive divorce ever.

Li Qiong will receive 29,800 shares of Beijing Kunlun Tech from her soon-to-be ex-husband. With the share price of Kunlun ending up as RMB 25.33 apiece Tuesday, Li Qiong walks away with around RMB7.5 billion worth of shares, or 26.4361% of the company. Zhou Yahui's 386 million shares represent 34.5% of the company. He is reported to still retain control of the company.

Reports on divorce of entrepreneurs have been common in recent years. One comparable to Zhou's case would be Gary Wang, former CEO of the video service firm Tudou.com. Wang went through a historically expensive divorce in 2011. Mr. Wang ended up having to fork over US$7 million in the final settlement. Because of the short time between the news and Tudou's IPO, some believe the divorce precipitated the company's eventual buyout by Youku.

The statement released by Beijing Kunlun Tech said the divorce would not influence normal business operations and announced a recent acquisition of Teminator 2's intellectual property rights for future game development.