Harold Hamm divorce: Former wife Sue Ann Arnall rejects $975m cheque from oil tycoon

Oil billionaire Harold Hamm wrote out a cheque for a staggering $975m (£646m) to settle his divorce from ex-wife Sue Ann Arnall - only to see it rejected.

Continental Resources chief executive Hamm, 69, offered the huge sum to second wife Arnall in the hope it would end their acrimonious two and half year divorce.

However Arnall, who was married to Hamm for 26 years, is seeking several billion from the energy magnate. The cheque she returned was made out for an eye-watering $974,790,317.77.

Hamm, who has been estimated by Forbes magazine to be worth about $7.8bn (£5.2bn), called the judge's ruling her pay $1bn (£667m) "fair and equitable".

In November he was ordered to pay Arnall $320m (£212m) by the end of 2014 with the rest to be paid in installments of about $7m (£4.6m) a month.

He has already handed over two homes, a ranch and other assets worth another several million dollars to his ex-wife.

Hamm saw his fortune decline in 2014 after a tumultuous year for oil prices saw prices hit a five-year low.

Plummeting oil prices slashed $4.3bn off his worth, according to Forbes, while shares in his Continental Resources lost one third of their value.