Name: Harold Hamm
Net worth: Approx. $19 billion Executive pay: $825, 000
Company: Continental Resources
Bio: Hamm was born in Lexington, Oklahoma, as the youngest of thirteen children to cotton sharecroppers Jane Elizabeth (née Sparks) and Leland Albert Hamm.
Harold Hamm founded Shelly Dean Oil Co., Continental’s predecessor, in 1967. The company was renamed Continental Resources in 1990.
Continental Resource has become a major oil producer over the years, selling assets in North Dakota And Montana for $222 million in 2016 and 26,000 acres in the Arkoma Basin for $68 million in 2017. Hamm and Continental Resources lead the development of the Bakken Oil Field in Montana and North Dakota, utilizing Hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilled wells.
Today, Continental produces more than 200,000 barrels daily.
Hamm has recieved honorary degrees from Northwestern Oklahoma State University and the University of Oklahoma. In 2011, he was instated into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame and in May 2014, he appeared on the cover of Forbes in a story entitled “Harold Hamm: The Billionaire Oilman Fueling America's Recovery”.
In April of 1988, Hamm entered into marriage with Sue Ann Arnall, with whom he had two children, Jane and Hilary. Sue Ann is an economist and lawyer, and has held an executive position at Continental Resources. She initiated divorce proceedings on May 19, 2012, although Hamm claimed that they had been separated since 2005.
Numerous media sources speculated that up to half of Hamm's estimated $20 billion fortune could be awarded to his wife, potentially setting a new world record for the largest sum transferred in a divorce. Despite a judge's ruling that his ex-wife would receive $1 billion, she declined the settlement and sought a larger amount. According to CNBC, Arnall deposited a settlement check of US$974,790,317.77 in 2015 (equivalent to $1,253,008,584.8 in 2023).
Quote: "Every time we can't drill a well in America, terrorism is being funded." - Harold Hamm
