[5] It beat the £30 million awarded to WPP Group chief executive Martin Sorrell's ex-wife in 2005 after their 32-year marriage ended in divorce.
Nicknamed "King of the London Insurance market", Charman earned the loathing of employees by banning entertainment of clients in company time, and refusing to indulge in long business lunches himself.
[9] Charman immediately set up AXIS Capital, a Bermuda-based reinsurance and insurance business with offices in London, Dublin, Zurich and New York that is listed on the NYSE.
In May 2013 he became CEO and Chairman of Endurance Specialty Holdings, another NYSE-listed, Bermuda-based reinsurance and insurance business with offices in Bermuda, London, Singapore, Zurich, New York and other locations.
[citation needed] As Charman's wealth built, the couple created the Bermuda-based Dragon Trust in 1987,[12] which by 2006 had grown to a value of £65 million.
After failing to secure a new house in England, in November 2003 Charman told his magistrate wife that he was taking up permanent residence in Bermuda and that their marriage was over.
In his written judgement, Mr Justice Coleridge said: "The husband is genuinely bemused that the wife should regard his £20 million offer as anything other than reasonable, even generous.
That case established the principle that for long marriages the courts should begin their deliberations on how to divide marital assets from the standpoint of a 50:50 split between husband and wife, regardless of who earned the money.
[2] Charman and his representatives, Withers, mounted a high-profile media campaign, arguing that White and subsequent decisions are discriminatory towards wealthy husbands.
On 9 March 2007, Mrs Charman was tied up and robbed of jewellery worth £300,000 at her home, in an incident police believe could have been motivated by the press coverage the case has attracted.
Helen Ward of Manches, who has represented Mrs Charman throughout these proceedings, said, "This is a significant judgment and brings welcome clarity to a number of important aspects of the law relating to the distribution of assets on divorce.
"I acknowledge that the sum awarded to me is huge by any standards but the Court of Appeal has decided that it fairly reflects the contributions made by John and me during our twenty eight-year marriage.