Hedge fund billionaire's wife will not contest divorce ruling

LONDON (Reuters) - Jamie Cooper-Hohn, estranged wife of hedge fund billionaire Christopher Hohn, will not contest a divorce settlement announced last month that awarded her less than half the family fortune. Cooper said in a statement on Thursday she had chosen not to appeal the judgment, opting instead to focus on her charitable activities and raising her children. American-born Cooper, 49, had sought half the assets, estimated at around $1.5 billion. But 48-year-old Hohn, who runs the TCI hedge fund, offered a quarter, arguing that he had made a special contribution to their wealth during their 17-year marriage. They have four children, including triplets. In the $530 million divorce settlement, the largest in British legal history, Judge Jennifer Roberts partly acknowledged Hohn's argument that his ability to create vast wealth had made a special contribution to their marriage. The judge made an award to Cooper-Hohn which equated to 36 percent of the fortune. Cooper-Hohn said in her statement that the so-called "special contribution" doctrine used in the case was outdated and unjust in disproportionately valuing the generation of wealth. "It dismisses the important contributions that those who take on the responsibility to raise children and work in less lucrative sectors make to our society." The couple's break up has cast a cloud over the charity they co-founded in 2004, the Children's Investment Fund Foundation which Cooper-Hohn ran, overseeing aid to poor and vulnerable children in the developing world. (Reporting by Simon Jessop. Editing by Jane Merriman)