The divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates: Everything you need to know about the foundation and the billions at stake
The Shocken Divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates
Bill and Melinda Gates, two of the world's wealthiest and most powerful philanthropists, announced in early May that they are divorcing. Through their namesake foundation, the pair has advocated for causes ranging from education to global health for the last two decades. Also, the couple, in collaboration with billionaire investor Warren Buffett, founded The Giving Pledge, a campaign encouraging wealthy individuals to donate the majority of their wealth.
"After much deliberation and work on our relationship, we have decided to end our marriage," the Microsoft co-founder shared on Twitter on May 3. "Over the last 27 years, we've raised three extraordinary children and established a foundation dedicated to enabling all people to live healthy, productive lives."
The divorce surprised many in the technology and charitable sectors, where the Gates name is well-known. The two will not simply split their enormous fortune, which was last estimated at around $124 billion. The divorce could also jeopardize the future of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, despite its approximately $50 billion endowment.
Everything we know thus far is as follows
For 27 years, Bill and Melinda Gates have been married.
They met while Bill Gates was co-founder and CEO of Microsoft, where he made his fortune. Melinda Gates began her career at Microsoft as a marketing manager responsible for multimedia products such as the Encarta multimedia encyclopedia and the infamously unsuccessful Microsoft Bob software. Bill and she began dating in 1987 and married in 1994. They have three children and reside in a lakefront mansion.
Since its inception in 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has grown to become the world's largest private charitable organization.
Additionally, Melinda Gates founded Pivotal Ventures, an investment firm separate from the foundation, in 2015. It is devoted to assisting women and families in the United States.
They have not disclosed the real reason for their divorce
"We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives," the couple stated when announcing their divorce. That is certainly ambiguous. According to Yahoo Finance, Melinda Gates' divorce petition stated, "This marriage is irretrievably broken."
Jennifer Gates, the couple's eldest daughter, shared the following statement via Instagram Stories: "It's been a trying time for our entire family. At the moment, I'm still figuring out how to best support my own process and emotions, as well as those of my family members."
There was no pre-nup
Perhaps more surprising than the divorce itself was the couple's lack of a prenuptial agreement. By the time they married in 1994, Gates was already the wealthiest person in the United States, according to Forbes at the time, with more than $9 billion in assets.
According to reports, Melinda's divorce petition stated that the couple has a "separation contract," and she is requesting that the court "dissolve our marriage and determine that our marital community ended on the date stated in our separation contract."
Money is already circulating
Bill Gates transferred $1.8 billion in stock to Melinda Gates on the same day the couple announced their divorce.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated May 3, Melinda Gates received more than $1.8 billion in stock from an investment firm controlled by Bill Gates. Bloomberg reported that the transfer includes more than 14 million shares of Canadian National Railway Co., valued at approximately $1.5 billion, and approximately 2.9 million shares of AutoNation, valued at approximately $309 million.
Bill and Melinda Gates have stated that they will continue to work at the foundation
Bill and Melinda Gates stated in their announcement that they "will continue our work together at the foundation." The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said in a statement that the couple would continue to shape the organization's strategies, champion its causes, and set its course. Bill Gates is 65 years old, while Melinda Gates is 56.
The pair had been working diligently throughout the pandemic
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation places a high premium on public health, as Melinda Gates discussed in her book, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Transforms the World. According to a public report on its website, it has committed $1.75 billion to date to support the global response to COVID-19. Over $680 million will be used to help slow the spread of disease and support response efforts in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Unfortunately, Bill Gates' already prominent status and the money he's brought to fight COVID-19 have sparked a series of bogus conspiracy theories about how he's attempting to control the population through vaccines. And this is not a small group. In the early months of the pandemic, surveys found that conspiracy theories about Gates were the most prevalent. He also blasted then-President Donald Trump's administration in a March 31, 2020, column, writing that "there is no doubt the United States missed an opportunity to stay ahead of the novel coronavirus."
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