Bill Gates gives estranged wife Melinda ANOTHER $500million in stocks
Bill Gates has transferred another $500million to his wife Melinda as they continue to divide up their enormous list of assets.
The pair announced their divorce on Monday in a joint statement posted on Twitter.
Since then, he has given her $1.5billion in railway shares, $300million in car shares and on Thursday, he shifted $120million in Coca Cola shares along with $364million in shares in Grupo Televisa, a Mexican TV network.
The Microsoft founder is the fourth richest man in the world with an estimated fortune of $130billion. He and Melinda have been married for 27 years and have three adult children, but announced in a joint statement on Monday they were parting ways.
They married in 1994 without a prenup in place and in court filings, she has described the marriage as 'irretrievably broken'.
The pair's divorce settlement hasn't been finalized in court but they have agreed on a some of the terms of their separation. It's likely that the pair will settle privately, and that the only glimpses into their division of assets will come from SEC filings about how many shares they own in public companies.
One such filing on Monday revealed that Bill gave Melinda more than 14million shares of the Canadian National Railway Company worth $1.5billion. He also gave her 2.9 million shares of AutoNation. The shares were transferred from Cascade Investment LLC, an investment company controlled by Gates.
On Thursday, more SEC papers were filed revealing that Bill has given Melinda 25,793,660 of Coca Cola shares worth $120million and 155million shares of Grupo Televisa worth $386 million.
Bill Gates' investment company has transferred more than $2billion in shares to Melinda over the last four days
What specifically prompted their divorce is unclear. Melinda has previously described Bill's hesitancy over getting married in the early 1990s.
In her petition for divorce, Melinda says spousal support is 'not needed' - meaning she won't seek regular payments from Bill but take a settlement which is likely to be privately negotiated, if it hasn't already been decided upon.
Lawyers are shocked there was no prenup, given Bill had already made his first billion dollars at the age of 31 in 1987 - the same year he met Melinda. Now, their myriad assets are up for grabs.
The couple met in 1987 - the same year Bill became the world's youngest billionaire at the age of 31 - married in Hawaii in 1994, and have three children together: Jennifer, 25, Rory, 21, and Phoebe 18.
They also established the world's largest charitable foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2000 which has contributed more than $50billion to causes including eradicating polio and malaria. The foundation has also been a major investor in coronavirus treatments.
Melinda filed a petition for divorce from Bill on Monday in the Superior Court of Washington - King County. In the petition (pictured) she described their marriage as 'irretrievably broken'
The couple are pictured with their three kids in a 2019 family photo. The kids - Jennifer (center), Rory (right) and Phoebe (left) are now aged 25, 21 and 18
In a joint statement posted to their Twitter accounts on Monday, the pair said their work with the foundation will continue but their marriage will not, adding: 'We no longer feel we are able to grow as a couple in this next phase of our lives.'
While the couple have no prenup, it appears a lot of the work of dividing up their estate - which includes properties in five states, a private jet, an astonishing art collection and a fleet of luxury cars - has already been done, as their divorce papers repeatedly refer to a 'separation contract' which both have signed. The contract itself has not been made public.
The documents, which were obtained by DailyMail.com, came to light after the couple's eldest daughter revealed their family has been going through a 'challenging stretch of time'.
Jennifer Gates, 25, spoke out about the divorce announcement on Instagram on Monday afternoon, writing: 'I'm still learning how to best support my own process and emotions as well as my family members at this time and am grateful for the space to do so.'
The 65-year-old Microsoft founder and his 56-year-old wife shared the news with identical statements on Twitter (pictured)
