A COLLECTIVE gasp was heard around the world when it was announced that billionaire philanthropists, Bill (65) and Melinda (56) Gates were calling it quits.
Sure, they’re no Jay-Z and Beyonce, or Kim and that other guy, but 27 years in any world – particularly the world of billionaires – is incredibly long.
So when the automated message sent out indicated it was now time for the lawyers, everybody took a step back and shouted to the heavens – ‘why?!’
While we may never truly understand why, we can try get to grips with who.
So here’s a look at some of the facts behind this once power couple.
In the billions
In 1987, Gates became America’s youngest billionaire. At the age of only 31, he was worth $1.25-billion and he was number one on the Forbes World’s billionaires list for 12 consecutive years – from 1995 to 2007.
The first meeting
Melinda joined Microsoft as a product manager in 1987. That same year, Bill and Melinda sat together at a business dinner in New York.
The wedding
The two were married in 1994 on the Hawaiian island of Lanai, allegedly hiring all local helicopters to stop people flying overhead.
The Foundation
The couple established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000, which focuses on charitable causes around the world.
Philanthropy
As of 2019, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has issued $-54.8 billion in grant payments to charitable causes, focusing primarily on public health, education and climate change.
Posthumous philanthropy
The Gates couple, along with investor Warren Buffett, are behind the Giving Pledge. This encourages billionaires to give away the majority of their wealth to good causes.
Pre-divorce plans
The Gates reportedly signed a separation contract outlining how their estate would be split before the actual divorce. The pair didn’t sign a pre-nuptial agreement before their wedding in 1994.
Filing for divorce
The couple officially filed for divorce at a Seattle court on Monday, before sharing the news in a statement on social media.
Enter the lawyers
Bill and Melinda each hired three lawyers to represent them in the divorce. Bill’s lawyers are Los Angeles-based, while Melinda has gone with the same lawyer who represented Ivana Trump.
Limited inheritance
Despite being Forbes’ fourth richest man with a wealth of $124-billion, the three Gates children will each inherit only $10-million each – a fraction of the wealth.
While divorce is always a tragic part of life, at the very least the pair will continue the work done by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to benefit humanity. Plus there’s a few billions to soften the blow.
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