Nigerian Billionaire: Our children are more important than £37m divorce

A multi-millionaire oil trader accused of forcing his wife to live on £150-a-week in a bitterly contested divorce battle today said today he is only thinking of his children.

Michael Prest spoke out with the Supreme Court due to return a potential landmark judgment on the legal wrangle with his ex-wife Yasmin Prest.

He claimed he was “disappointed” rather than angered by his wife’s actions and his biggest concern has always been the impact of the coverage of the case on the couple’s four children.

He adds that he could never be angry with his wife as she has given him the biggest treasure in his life - his four children.

“The part that upsets me is what my children read in the newspapers about their father,” said Mr Prest, who was born in Nigeria but brought up in the UK and educated at leading independent school Downside.

“I’m a grown man, I’ve got a fairly thick skin, i can live with the coverage. But I think it needs to be understood that there are children under the age of 17 involved here.

“There needs to be an incredible amount of care used when you deal with such matters, especially in today’s world, with its 24-hour rolling news services and the power of the internet.

“I’m also upset for my elderly mother because I don’t think in her 76th year this is something she wanted to be reading about.”

Friends of Mr Prest deny the headline-making claims that he enjoys a jet-setting lifestyle while his wife struggles by on less than the minimum wage.

They point out that she continues to live in the £5 million matrimonial home in Maida Vale and has a driver, housekeeper, cleaner, a gardener and a dog walker all at his expense.

He also pays the boarding school fees for the three children who do not live at home during term time.

“Someone is having a laugh and they simply don’t know Michael,” says one friend.

Meanwhile, the total legal bills in the dispute over a company estate valued at £37.5 million by the High Court are now said to have topped £3 million.

The court has to decide whether two Petrodel companies are part of Mr Prest’s personal assets or separate corporate entities that cannot be considered to form part of his estate.

The High Court had attributed the Companies, valued at £37.5 million, to be Mr Prest’s and awarded Mrs Prest half of that amount.

The companies appealed and won in the Appeal Court.

Should the Supreme Court uphold their decision, the case could come to be seen as a landmark action with serious implications for London’s status as the divorce capital of Europe.

Michael Prest is the founder of Nigerian energy trading firm Petrodel Resources, with extensive oil exploration interests in Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Uganda.

Source: StandardUK