The fourth richest man in the world, Bill Gates is officially getting divorced from his wife. Microsoft’s founder and his now, ex-wife Melinda Gates made the announcement today. The couple had been married for 27 years. The joint statement was posted on Bill Gates Twitter page about an hour ago.
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage”, the statement read.
Bill and Melinda Gates at a trade show in New York and began dating in 1987. They later got married on the first day of the year in 1994. Mellissa worked in marketing at Microsoft before she got appointed as General Manager of Information Products in the early 90s.
In 1996, Mellissa quit her role in Microsoft to focus on their family. However, since then, the couple has gone on to launch the Bill & Mellissa foundation in 2000. Consequently, their philanthropic efforts have impacted many nations of the world since then.
The wealthy American pair have three adult children. They are: Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe.
What are the Financial Implications of this for Bill and Melinda?
The full financial implication of the separation between the two is unclear at this stage. According to FactSet, Bill Gates currently owns 1.37% of Microsoft’s outstanding shares. This percentage is worth more than $26 billion.
Bill and Melinda are well known for their generosity. They created the Giving Pledge with American billionaire, Warren Buffet. The pledge which involves giving away half of their wealth is plauded by many.
In 2020, Bill stepped down from his role as member of board in Microsoft. Melinda and Bill have since focused their attention on their charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation now has $51 billion in assets.
There are projections that this divorce may be one of the more expensive ones too. Two years ago, fellow billionaire and business competitor, Jeff Bezos also announced his divorce from his wife, MacKenzie. The divorce resulted in MacKenzie becoming one of the richest women in the world.
