Update | Court slashes record divorce payout for property scion’s ex-wife

The Court of Appeal yesterday slashed by two-thirds a record HK$1.4 billion divorce settlement granted to a property tycoon's ex-wife, ruling she should receive HK$411 million. The ruling followed a successful appeal by the husband and his billionaire father.

It said that Florence Tsang Chiu-wing, 39, a solicitor, needs HK$524.5 million to fund the lifestyle she enjoyed during her marriage with Samathur Li Kin-kan, 40. Li is the son of Samuel Tak Lee, the head of Prudential Enterprise, which has vast global real estate investments and owns the Prudential Hotel in Nathan Road, Jordan.

The panel of three judges ruled the lower court was wrong to have included the son's multibillion-dollar property business in Japan, which was developed with seed funds from the father, who has the right to buy back the business at US$1.

The lower court had wrongly granted Tsang HK$1.4 billion on a "sharing principle", giving her 20 per cent of the couple's total assets, which included Li's HK$7.3 billion, the judges found.

The case attracted extensive media coverage during the hearings in 2011 and gave the public a rare glimpse into the extravagance of the seriously rich. The court heard how Li lavished more than HK$100 million a year on himself and at one point had a Boeing business jet, two yachts, 28 cars and millions of dollars' worth of wine.

The couple's eight-year marriage broke down in 2008 after Tsang refused her husband's demand for an abortion, then discovered he was having an affair.