Melinda and Bill Gates
Despite the huge fortune, they should not have a marriage contract
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates will get divorced after around 27 years of marriage.
© imago images / MediaPunch
Bill Gates and still-wife Melinda get divorced. Despite Gates’ large fortune, there should be no marriage contract.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (65) and his wife Melinda Gates (56) are getting a divorce. The couple announced last Monday (May 3rd) with a joint statement on twitter known. According to the divorce papers, which are available to the US magazine “People”, among others, the couple should not have a prenuptial agreement. The assets are to be divided up on the basis of a separation agreement.
In Melinda Gates’ divorce petition, which was received in King County, Washington state, the billionaire’s still-wife declares that the marriage is “irrevocably broken.” She asks the court to dissolve the marriage and accept the separation. A maintenance payment from the spouse is “not required”, the document goes on to say. In April 2022, the couple are due to appear in court for the divorce date.
In the statement about their divorce, Bill and Melinda Gates stated that they want to continue the work for their organization “Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation”. However, the couple no longer believe “that as a couple we can continue to grow together in this coming phase of our lives”. Bill and Melinda Gates were married in 1994 and they have three children together: son Rory (21) and their daughters Phoebe (18) and Jennifer (25).
Bill Gates’ fortune
The business magazine “Forbes” ranks Gates in fourth place in the ranking of the richest people in the world, behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (57) and entrepreneurs Bernard Arnault (72) and Elon Musk (49). Gates’ fortune is currently estimated at the equivalent of more than 108 billion euros.
Many years ago it became known that he and his still-wife Melinda, with whom he has been married since 1994, only wanted to leave the children the equivalent of around 8.5 million euros each – i.e. a fraction of his fortune. In 2013 the entrepreneur explained this decision to “Bild am Sonntag”: “My wife and I believe that you are doing your children a disservice if you shower them with money that they have not earned themselves.”