Things To Know About Bill Gate And Melinda’s Divorce
GoldenNewsNg gathered that Bill Gate and Melinda are getting divorced after 27 years of marriage.
See Bill Gate’s recent post on his official twitter page below :
The two met in New York in the 1980s, early into Melinda’s time at Microsoft.
They both have three children and co-ordinate the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation division.
The department has invested billions in the fight against infectious diseases and is asking for vaccinations of children.
Bill Gate and businessman Warren Buffet are among the founders of “Giving Pledge” calling on those with more money to make better use of their wealth.
Gates made his fortune after he and Microsoft co-founded Microsoft in 1970.
How Melinda and Bill Gate’s Love began
56-year-old Melinda started working for Microsoft as a product manager in 1987.
The two eventually shared a table at a business event in New York that year.
That’s how their friendship began but Bill told a company called ‘Netflix documentary’ that they both really fell in love and that only one of two things could happen. The first is that they can break up or get married.
They got married in 1994. The 65-year-old Bill eventually stepped down as Microsoft CEO to focus on philanthropy.
The wealth and philanthropy of Melinda and Bill Gates
Bill Gates is the world’s fourth-richest person with a net worth of $130.5bn, according to Forbes.
Gates dropped out of Harvard University to co-found technology giant Microsoft with school friend Paul Allen in 1975. Gates owned 49 percent of Microsoft at its initial public offering in 1986, which made him an instant multimillionaire.
With Microsoft’s explosive growth, he soon became the world’s richest person.
He has since lost that title, partly as a result of his donations to philanthropic causes.
He was also overtaken due to growth at other companies. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk and Louis Vuitton boss Bernard Arnault and his family occupy the three top spots on the Forbes wealth list
Melinda Gates, 56
Melinda met Bill at Microsoft in 1987, shortly after the computer science and economics graduate joined the technology firm.
She is the “most powerful woman” in philanthropy, according to Forbes.
In 2015, the MBA-holder founded Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation firm focused on women, family and social progress.
She also secured the support of MacKenzie Scott, the author and philanthropist who was married to Jeff Bezos until 2019, in a $40m gender equality fund that will make its first awards this year.
What is the Gates Foundation?
The couple founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 in Seattle.
The department focuses on health, education, and climate change.
They have spent up to $ 1 billion on each vaccine plan and research for covid 19.
Bill and Melinda Gates contributed $ 36bn to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation component between 1994 and 2018
Division of assets
The couple’s main home is a seven-bedroom mansion on Lake Washington that was valued at $130.8m in 2020, according to the King County Department of Assessments.
Lake Washington lies between Seattle and its eastern suburbs including Redmond, where Microsoft has its headquarters.
They also own other properties in states including California and Florida, as well as a private jet.
The financial details of the couple’s split remain unclear.
They are seeking division of joint assets, according to a separation agreement they have reached, filed in King County Superior Court.
As one of the few US states with so-called “community property” laws, Washington presumes that most property acquired over the course of a marriage belongs jointly to the spouses and is divided equally in a divorce.
The spouses can also agree that certain assets are separate property, meaning they belong to one of them. Inheritances often fall in this category.