Dmitry Rybolovlev of Russia, President of AS Monaco Football Club, looks on during the French Ligue 1 soccer match between Monaco and Montpellier at the Louis II Stadium in Monaco, August 18, 2013. REUTERS/Olivier Anrigo What was thought to be the world’s most expensive divorce just got a lot cheaper after a Geneva court knocked it down from four billion Swiss francs ($4.3 billion) to 564 million Swiss francs ($604 million).

In February 2014, Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev was ranked 147th in Forbes' billionaires list, with a net worth of $8.8bn.

Unfortunately for the owner of football club AS Monaco, in May last year a Geneva matrimonial court made him hand half of that sum, some four billion Swiss francs ($4 billion), over to his ex-wife Elena.

Her lawyers called the ruling "the most expensive divorce in history".

However, on Thursday a Geneva appeals court ruled that his ex-wife should receive “only” 564 million Swiss francs ($604 million), along with “two properties in Geneva”.

The huge change in the sums awarded to his ex-wife hinged on whether or not the Swiss court chose to include the vast amounts that Mr Rybolovlev had placed in Cyprus-based trust funds.

The billionaire made the transfers to the funds in his and his two daughters names in 2008 – before his ex-wife launched divorce proceedings - in a bid, his lawyers said, to “ensure the transmission of the estate to future generations”.

Given the interest accrued on the trusts, the divorce award would have been four billion Swiss francs had these been taken into account.

Dmitry Rybolovlev AP Images The latest decision reverses the initial ruling that saw the trusts as assets still belonging to Mr Rybovlev.

“Contrary to the first ruling, the judges considered that the foreign trusts were subject to the material law of their jurisdiction – namely Cyprus – by virtue of the Hague Trust Convention,” said Tetiana Bersheda, Mr Rybolovlev’s lawyer.

“It is a very important ruling for the recognition of foreign trusts in Swiss law,” she said.

The court also rejected his former partner’s request to limit Mr Rybolovlev’s access to their 14-year-old daughter, Anna.

Marc Bonnant, Elena Rybolovlev’s lawyer, said she would appeal the ruling with the Swiss federal court – the highest in the country.

"Mrs Rybolovlev won the first round, she has partially lost the second round. There will be a third round,” he told Le Figaro.

She filed for divorce in 2009 after saying she could no longer take his infidelities, including sharing "young conquests with his friends, and other oligarchs" in parties on yachts.

In April 2012, Rybolovlev's spokesman admitted that "he was not a model husband. Mr Rybolovlev never denied the infidelities, but the wife knew about it for many years and passively accepted it".

Among the trophy properties to which Mr Rybolovlev’s ex-wife laid claim were two of the most expensive residences ever bought in America.

These were Donald Trump's Palm Beach mansion, Maison de L'Amitie, bought in 2008 for $95 million in 2008, and a New York flat bought in 2012 by trusts linked to Mr Rybolovlev and his 26-year old daughter, Ekaterina, for $88 million - said to be the highest sum ever paid for an apartment in the city at the time.

Mr Rybolovlev's wealth came from the sale of his stake in Uralkali, a Russian fertiliser business, for $6.5 billion in 2010. He went on to buy AS Monaco in December 2011.

He lives in Monaco but also has an estate in the southern French resort of Saint Tropez and his assets include an art collection filled with paintings by Picasso, Van Gogh, Gauguin and Monet.

Last month, Mr Rybolovlev’s lawyers said he believes his family trust is the unwitting buyer of several works that Picasso's stepdaughter, Catherine Hutin-Blay, alleges were stolen from her.

He is currently engaged in a legal battle with a Swiss art dealer who he accuses of vastly overcharging him for some of the works.

The Swiss art dealer, Yves Bouvier, was arrested in February and charged with fraud and complicity in money laundering.