Bill and Melinda Gates divorce: 5 of the most expensive marriage splits in history
On Monday, news emerged that Bill and Melinda Gates are ending their marriage. The pair released a joint statement on their Twitter accounts, stating, “We have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.
“We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”
The couple is members of The Giving Pledge, an agreement by extremely wealthy people to contribute a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.
— Melinda French Gates (@melindagates) May 3, 2021
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is easily the most influential private foundation in the world, with an endowment worth nearly 50 billion dollars.
It has focused on global health and development and US education issues since incorporating in 2000.
The couple were married in 1994 in Hawaii. They met after she began working at Microsoft as a product manager in 1987.
Last year, Mr Gates, formerly the world’s richest person, said he was stepping down from Microsoft’s board to focus on philanthropy.
Mr Gates was Microsoft’s CEO until 2000 and since then has gradually scaled back his involvement in the company he started with Paul Allen in 1975.
He transitioned out of a day-to-day role in Microsoft in 2008 and served as chairman of the board until 2014.
The founder of Amazon and his former wife announced their split in January 2019, and soon made headlines with the most expensive divorce settlement in history. MacKenzie Bezos received 25% of the couple's Amazon stock, estimated to be around $38 billion. Jeff did fine out of the settlement, with an estimated net worth of $118 billion.
The New York-based Wildensteins were married from 1978 to 1999. Alec was Swiss-born Jocelyn received $2.5 billion in the divorce settlement and $100 million each year for the following 13 years. Controversially, the judge presiding over their divorce stipulated that Joceyln was not allowed to use her settlement money for more cosmetic surgery.
When the Murdochs divorced in 1999 after 32 years of marriage, Anna reportedly received $1.7 billion (including $110 million in cash) from the settlement. It was the second of Rupert Murdoch's divorces, who divorced one more time before marrying Jerry Hall in 2016.
Tiger and Elin divorced in 2010 following a car crash which unleashed a torrent of rumours about extramarital affairs. Elin received around $100 million.
After eight years of marriage, Madonna paid ex-husband Guy Ritchie up to £60 million to settle their marriage. The sum included the couple’s English country estate, Ashcombe, which was valued at about £20 million at the time.
