Bill Gates, Melinda and the “dance” of billions

The Gates’s untold fortune, the puzzle of sharing it after the “golden” divorce and the future of their charity work

“The people we marry are not the people we divorce, because people change,” remarked American lawyer Nicole Sodoma two years ago, following the announcement of the most expensive divorce in history.

He was the founder of Amazon and the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos, with his wife of 25 years, now the fourth richest woman in the world, Mackenzie Scott.

Leading the way now may be Bill and Melinda Gates, with a fortune of over $ 130 billion and their unexpected “golden” divorce .

Like the Bezos, they too – paradoxically – had not entered into a prenuptial agreement, despite the fact that in their wedding year, in 1994, the Microsoft co-founder was considered, at 38, the richest American.

“Divorce agreement” and expensive lawyers

The divorce application filed by the couple on Monday in a Washington state court (where the law stipulates that anything acquired during a marriage is considered to belong equally to both partners, although this does not necessarily mean that the property will share 50-50), 65-year-old Bill and 56-year-old Melissa refer to a “divorce agreement” to share their colossal fortune.

Its contents remain unknown. However, as it became known, the fourth richest man in the world has already started transferring securities to his frail and officially ex-wife, through Cascade Investment: a portfolio company that Bill Gates created with his profits from Microsoft Corp. (now owns 1.36% of its shares, while last year he resigned from the board of the technology giant to devote more time to the non-profit Bill and Belinda Gates Foundation, the largest in the world).

As of Monday, Melinda became a shareholder in the Canadian National Railway Co. and AutoNation Inc., worth a total of $ 1.8 billion.

Of course, many billions are left until the division of their untold fortune is completed, which includes, among other things, luxury real estate, a fleet of aircraft, shares in many companies, vast tracts of land and expensive collections of works of art.

Just in case, everyone has formed their own legal team with… superstars in the industry. Bill Gates recruited experts from Los Angeles-based Munger Tolles & Olson, which has been named seven times the best law firm in the United States.

Melinda Franz Gates has included Robert Cohen in her legal team, specializing in divorces and a famous clientele – from millionaire Michael Bloomberg to the two ex-wives of Donald Trump, as well as Trump Epsaron – Tsepreson Bezos in his own divorce, in which his ex-wife took the small, but not negligible 1/4 of his shares in Amazon, thus now owning 3.8% of the company.

Stunning property

However, in contrast to the Bezos – who had to share a fortune, which came mainly from the shareholding in Amazon – the situation is much more complicated with the Gates.

Bill’s Microsoft shares now account for less than 20% of their total assets.

Its most valuable gems today are the non-cedar Bill & Belinda Gates Foundation – with assets of more than $ 51 billion – and Cascade Investment, through which the couple has invested in real estate and companies, both public and private. private.

Their business “empire” includes a private island in Belize and real estate in five US states, including their ultra-luxurious main residence.

The “Xanadu 2.0” mansion of 6,000 square meters, overlooking Lake Washington in the homonymous state, worth more than 125 million dollars.

Among other things, it has seven bedrooms, 18 bathrooms, a 20-seat movie theater, a library with rare books, a trampoline room and swimming pools inside and outside the house with underwater sound system.

Especially in recent years, the Gates have also purchased vast tracts of land in 18 US states, with an estimated total area equal to that of Hong Kong.

They also own a fleet of expensive cars – including a collectible Porche 959 -, aircraft and helicopters.

Their vast collection of works of art includes a rare, valuable handwritten notebook by Leonardo da Vinci , the Codex Leicester, which Bill bought at auction in 1994 for $ 30 million.

Of all these, however, their three children are said to receive just $ 10 million each as an inheritance: a “claw” from the vast family fortune, much of which Bill and Melinda Gates have pledged to donate before they die. Already, a significant portion has been channeled to their charity.

Charitable action

Despite their divorce, the tycoons have pledged to continue working tirelessly with the  Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation , which they founded in 2000 with the stated goals of fighting poverty, strengthening child education and gender equality, as well as and the elimination of global health threats.

In fact, in recent months, they have spent more than $ 1 billion fighting Covid-19, mainly in the development of vaccines.

A move that on the one hand gave new “food” to the ubiquitous conspiracy theorists about the role and goals of Bill Gates, on the other hand based on his assertion that – with his opposition to the abolition of patents – he essentially serves the interests of the drug giants.

Many now believe that, after their divorce, the Gates are likely to pursue separate goals, within the foundation itself or by founding new ones, with Bly focusing on climate change and innovation and Melinda likely focusing on strengthening the role of women and the family in modern society.

In this field, in which he now collaborates with Bezos’ ex-wife and up-and-coming philanthropist, Mackenzie Scott, jointly undertaking the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge initiative. 

Despite Gates’ statement of goodwill, dilemmas remain. On the board of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bloomberg points out, there are three trustees: the couple and Warren Buffett, “who has promised to donate much of his significant fortune to his friends’ foundation. “This means that it may be necessary to settle any disputes between the two former 90-year-old billionaire.”