This is set to be the world’s most expensive divorce

Up until now, Rupert Murdoch and Bernie Ecclestone’s divorces have been up there with the most expensive in history. However, Russian billionaire and Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich looks set to eclipse them after splitting from his wife Dasha Zhukova. 

Abramovich, 50 and Zhukova, 36 met in 2005, and married in 2008 - keeping the wedding a secret for six years, until a 2014 article in the Wall Street Journal revealed all. They have two children: son Aaron Alexander, born in 2009 and daughter, Leah Lou, born in 2013.

Abramovich and Zhukova/Getty

The Russian businessman is reportedly worth $10.5 billion, and his first divorce from ex-wife Irina Vyacheslavovna Malandina in 2007 cost $255 million - making it the fourth most expensive at the time. 

Magazine editor Zhukova is wealthy in her own right as the daughter of a Russian oil magnate. It is unclear whether the couple signed a prenup, but if not their divorce looks set to be the most expensive of all time. 

Abramovich with ex-wife Irina Vyacheslavovna Malandina/Getty

In a statement, the former couple told Page Six: “After 10 years together, the two of us have made the difficult decision to separate.

“But we remain close friends, parents and partners in the projects we developed together.

“We are committed to jointly raising our two children. We will also continue to work together as co-founders of the Garage Museum of Contemporary Art in Moscow and the New Holland Island cultural centre in Saint Petersburg.”

The couple own homes in London, Moscow, Colorado, the Caribbean and the South of France, along with a number of yachts.