Microsoft co-founders Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates are now officially divorced after 27 years of marriage. The separation became legal after a judge signed off on the documents filed with the King County Superior Court in Washington on Monday.
Ms Gates’ petition for divorce filed before the court in May, was signed on July 30 from “Pivotal Ventures,” her investment firm working mainly on gender equality based in Washington. The petition stated that the couple’s relationship was “irretrievably broken.”
The judge ordered that their property be divided according to the terms of a separation contract, which remains confidential under the terms of the divorce.
Bloomberg had set Mr Gates’ net worth at $152 billion on Monday, the separation may mean that he and Ms Gates could walk away with around $76 billion each.
The document also maintains that neither party will receive spousal support and Ms will not be dropping her last name. As the children of the former couple are all adults, there was no inclusion of child support or a custody agreement in the separation documents.
The former couple had announced their divorce in a joint statement in May, saying they no longer “believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives,” but noted that they intended to keep working together at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
After the announcement, Bloomberg reported that over $3 billion worth of shares held by Mr Gates’s Cascade Investment had been transferred to Ms Gate’s.
===========================================About Us============================================
TheCapital offers the best of society and entertainment features by situating celebrity news and features in the context of popular culture. Published by OldEnglish Limited, it presents a very sharp contrast to mundane, run-of-the-mill celebrity gossip magazines; rather it is a written forum for and about Nigeria’s high-society comprising Nigeria’s upper middle class and aristocracy. TheCapital is an ultra-niche, collectible quality magazine written by and about the global elite. Our focus is on Nigeria’s best in the art and design, wealth and philanthropy, new technology, innovative ideas and experiences. We specialise in interviewing and profiling Nigeria and Africa’s most influential and successful individuals – art patrons, financiers, philanthropists, great thinkers – in their own words, exclusively for our publications. The magazine features the work of some of the most gifted photographers and designers in the world.
Mission Statement
Our objective is to provide factual and exhilarating news reports about the crème-de-la-crème of the Nigerian society. Feature reports by the magazine are designed to provide accurate insight to perspectives about eminent personalities and newsmakers and the goings-on in their lives.
Target Audience
It is primarily aimed at men and women with over eighty percent of its target readers aged 25 to 54 and in the upper socio-economic quintile. TheCapital offers that rare sophistication and élan that establishes its status as Nigeria’s most authoritative cultural barometer. The reader of TheCapital primarily; …loves to be trendy.
