Bill and Melinda Gates Are Officially Divorced

Nearly three months after announcing that they were separating, Bill Gates and his wife Melinda are officially divorced. The pair were married 27 years.

Bill and Melinda Gates
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Photo by Ludovic Marin via Getty Images

Bill and Melinda Gates

Nearly three months after announcing their separation, Bill Gates and his wife Melinda are officially divorced.

TMZ reports the judge signed off on the couple’s divorce on Monday, signaling the end of their 27-year marriage. Per court documents obtained by the news outlet, neither party will get spousal support. Additionally, Melinda will not change her last name. The document also states that all property will be divided according to the “Separation Contract,” which ultimately means that Bill and Melinda signed their own private document upon separating that outlines who will end up with what.

The news comes just three months after the pair announced their split via Bill’s Twitter account. 

“Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and build a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives,” the couple wrote in May. “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. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”

A few days after Bill and Melinda announced their separation, Newsweek reported that the Gates’ three children, 25-year-old Jennifer, 21-year-old Rory, and 18-year-old Phoebe, will each inherit less than one percent of their parents’ $130.5 billion fortune following the divorce.

The Microsoft co-founder previously addressed the topic during a 2017 AMA on Reddit, when a user asked him about his purported plans to only leave his children with $10 million each. Bill didn’t confirm that amount, but suggested his kids would receive just a small portion of his fortune.

“I definitely think leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favor to them,” he replied. “Warren Buffett was part of an article in Fortune talking about this in 1986 before I met him and it made me think about it and decide he was right. Some people disagree with this but Melinda and I feel good about it.”

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal in May reported that Bill had transferred between $3 billion and $4 billion in shares to Melinda: $850 million of which were from Deere & Co., while the rest consisted of stakes in a Canadian railroad, a Coca-Cola bottler, AutoNation Inc. and others that ultimately reach a value of $2.4 billion. 

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