Tobias Sylvester
A judge has ordered a Swedish businesswoman, worth about £250 million, to pay her estranged husband over £6.5 million following the breakdown of their six-year marriage.
The millionaire Louise Backstrom and her husband Martin Wennberg, both in their 30s, were involved in a heated dispute over financial matters in a private family court in London.
Mr. Wennberg sought a financial package worth more than £40 million, but Deputy High Court judge Leslie Samuels ruled in favor of Ms. Backstrom against his request.
Additionally, the judge held that Ms. Backstrom should provide approximately £60,000 per year for the next six years to meet Mr. Wennberg’s income needs.
After considering the evidence presented in a private trial, Judge Samuels outlined his conclusions in a written judgment, disclosing the names of the parties involved.
The judge acknowledged that Ms. Backstrom had made a £6.5 million offer as a “housing fund” in accordance with the terms of a pre-marital agreement, which he deemed to carry significant weight.
According to the information presented in court, both Ms. Backstrom, 33, and Mr. Wennberg, 39, are Swedish but had been living in England.
Ms. Backstrom, formerly the chairman of the Biltema Foundation and a minority shareholder in Birgma Holdings (Hong Kong) Limited—a family business established and controlled by her grandfather—was assessed to have assets amounting to around £250 million, while Mr. Wennberg’s assets were valued at £2 million.
The judge recounted that the couple met in Stockholm in March 2012, with the wife being a student at the time and the husband working in luxury watch sales.
He said they began living together in 2014, got married in 2015, and eventually separated in 2021.
“On any view the standard of living enjoyed by this family before the breakdown of the marriage was extremely high,” Judge Samuel said.
“The parties enjoyed the provision of high value London properties, staff, expensive holidays, limitless travel options and, overall, the best that money can provide.”
The judge noted that Mr. Wennberg failed to submit any evidence or disclose his financial position, thereby breaching orders requiring him to provide such information.
In March, details of the litigation surfaced when Ms. Backstrom accused Mr. Wennberg of breaching court orders and contempt of court. She asked another judge to impose a jail sentence on him.
During a public hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London, Mr. Justice Peel considered Ms. Backstrom’s contempt complaint and ruled that Mr. Wennberg had indeed breached earlier court orders.
Sentencing decisions are expected to be made later this year by another judge regarding the contempt charges.
Meanwhile, a housewife, Farira Isah has dragged her ex-husband, Abubakar Hamza, before a Sharia court in Kaduna State over his refusal to feed six of their nine children.
