US woman awarded $184m divorce settlement

An American woman has been awarded $184 million (£92 million) following her divorce from her energy tycoon husband.

Maya Polsky, a 55-year-old art gallery owner, filed for divorce from Michael Polsky in 2003 and her financial settlement is thought to be one of the largest in US legal history, the Associated Press reports.

According to Howard Rosenfeld, Mrs Polsky's lawyer, over $170 million (£85 million) of the settlement is non-taxable. He said: "She's very much satisfied with the court's decision. She thinks she was fairly treated by the court."

However, her ex-husband's lawyer Joseph Tighe said that Mr Polsky will be contesting the court's decision.

He commented: "He intends to test this decision on appeal because he's always believed that this shouldn't have been a 50-50 split."

The pair married in 1975 in Kiev, Ukraine, and moved to the US one year later with just $500 (£250) between them. Mr Polsky is now president and chief executive officer of Invenergy Wind LLC, a wind energy company based in Chicago.

Recently, the former wife of a British property magnate was awarded £48 million, which is the largest divorce settlement in British legal history.