After 27 years and three children, Bill and Melinda Gates are calling it quits. “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the two said in a joint statement on Twitter. “We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.”
While Bill made the bulk of his money from Microsoft, the two are probably best known for their Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which they founded together in 2000. Since then, their philanthropic organization has spent $53-point-8 billion on a wide range of initiatives related to global health, poverty alleviation, and more.
The couple, who married in 1994, have an estimated net worth of between $130- and $146-billion…and there’s no pre-nup in place. Between that and the paperwork, here’s where it gets interesting.
- According to TMZ, Melinda filed the paperwork citing that the marriage is irretrievably broken.
- She’s also asking the judge to rule the marriage ended “as of the date in the separation contract.” That contract is not included in the divorce filing, but they apparently separated at some point earlier and signed a document to that effect.
- The documents also make it clear that there’s no prenup, and Melinda isn’t asking for spousal support. They are asking for a trial date in April 2022, but they’ll probably settle without a trial.
Source: Bill Gates
