In the latest episode of the “Billionaires’ Divorce Drama,” Vladimir Potanin, Russia’s very own oligarch with pockets deeper than the Mariana Trench (we’re talking a cool $20 billion), has managed to charm the robes off the UK Supreme Court justices, winning an appeal that puts a pause on his ex-wife Natalia Potanina‘s quest to tap into his vast fortune. But don’t pop the champagne just yet—this legal soap opera is far from its season finale.
The UK Supreme Court ruled by a three-to-two majority that a lower court had applied the wrong legal test when granting Potanina permission to bring a financial claim in Britain, previously valued by her lawyers at around $9 billion. The battleground? The illustrious halls of London’s legal system, known far and wide for handing out divorce settlements like Oprah gives away cars. Potanin, in a valiant effort to protect his treasure trove, argued against the Court of Appeal’s decision that green-lit Natalia’s pursuit for a piece of the billion-pound pie in London, a city she probably thought as good as any to shop for ex-husbands’ assets.
Natalia, on the other hand, isn’t playing the damsel in distress. She’s gunning for approximately £5 billion, arguing she’s entitled to her fair share of the marital gold after enduring years of wedded bliss. Her legal knights in shining armor retorted that the Court of Appeal was spot on, and why shouldn’t she dig for gold in London’s generous courts?
In a twist that could only be described as a legal cliffhanger, the Supreme Court judges, led by Lord Leggatt, decided in a majority vote that the Court of Appeal had flubbed on a procedural issue. Yet, in a move that ensures the drama continues, they’ve tossed the hot potato back to the Court of Appeal to untangle other knotty legal threads still dangling.
Lord Leggatt, channeling his inner legal philosopher, pondered aloud (in legal speak, of course) the quandary of English courts doling out financial orders to foreign parties who barely know their Big Ben from their Buckingham Palace, and whose marital spats have already been a spectator sport in foreign courts.
The backdrop to this high-stakes matrimonial tug-of-war is a marriage that kicked off in 1983 in Russia, spanned three decades and produced three adult offspring. Vladimir claims the romantic flame sputtered out in 2007, with a Russian court officially calling time on the marriage in 2014. Natalia, however, paints a picture of a love story that met its abrupt end in 2013, suggesting a sudden plot twist in their long-running saga.
As this legal spectacle unfolds, it’s clear that the final act is yet to come. With the Supreme Court’s latest maneuver, the stage is set for more legal wrangling that promises to keep the tabloids buzzing and the rest of us mortals watching in awe as these titans clash over their billions in a courtroom drama that rivals any prime-time soap opera. Stay tuned, folks—this ride through the legal labyrinth of London’s divorce courts is anything but over.
