Oklahoma oilman Hamm ready to drop appeal of $1 billion divorce: filing

Oklahoma oil billionaire Harold Hamm on Wednesday moved to drop his appeal of a $1 billion divorce award to his ex-wife, a day after the court dismissed her bid to re-open the case, according to a court filing. Hamm's decision to withdraw his counter-appeal of a bitterly fought divorce after a lower court awarded his ex-wife Sue Ann Arnall around $1 billion in January could end their dispute, which has been ongoing since 2012 with billions at stake. In the filing, lawyers for Hamm, the chief executive and majority owner of driller Continental Resources Inc CLR.N, said he "is willing to dismiss his counter-appeal," and asked the state's Supreme Court to do so. Hamm noted that prior to Arnall's appeal of the case, he had been "willing to accept the decision of the trial court," and had only appealed "in order to protect his rights." Hamm's move to end the case comes after the court ruled on Tuesday that it would not hear Arnall's appeal, on grounds that her acceptance in January of a $975 million check from Hamm had ended her right to appeal for a larger award. The check covered the remaining balance of a divorce ruling that awarded Arnall around $1 billion in cash and assets. At trial last year, Arnall's lawyers had argued that she was entitled to a far larger chunk of a marital fortune they estimated at around $18 billion at the time. The couple was married for 26 years, during which the value of Hamm's oil company rose by more than 400-fold. ((Reporting by Joshua Schneyer in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman); joshua.schneyer@thomsonreuters.com)