Bill Gates and Melinda French divorce finalised by US judge after 27 years of marriage

Three months after Bill and Melinda Gates filed for divorce on May 3 and decided to end 27 years of marriage, a judge in King County, Washington has finalised the separation of one of the most powerful couples. Court records have revealed that neither Bill nor Melinda will change their name or receive any “spousal support”, as per CNN and Bloomberg report. However, reportedly, it still remains unclear how Gates’ immense fortune will be divided among the two.

Because Washington is a community property state, all assets accumulated during a marriage must be divided equally should a divorce takes place. But, reportedly, the Gates; split is being carried out under the aegis of a separation contract, details of which are not known. As per Bloomberg’s Billionaire’s Index, Bill Gates is presently the world’s fourth-richest man in the world with $151 billion worth. The judge who finalised the divorce reportedly said that the contract was “just and equitable.”

Shortly after the divorce announcement in May, The Wall Street Journal had also reported that Bill Gates was investigated by the company’s board members in 2020 over the billionaire’s relationship with a female Microsoft employee that was deemed inappropriate. As per the report, the board members of Microsoft Corp. made the decision in 2020 that Bill Gates was not unfit to continue sitting on its board. The media outlet citing unnamed sources reported on May 16 that the board members looking into the matter had hired a law firm in late 2019 in order to pursue the inquiry.

The law firm was contacted by the company after reportedly a Microsoft engineer claimed in a letter that she had sexual relations with gates over several years, the time Bill was still married to Melinda. However, as per the report, the Microsoft co-founder resigned before the board’s investigation ended saying he would shift more focus on his philanthropic ventures. An unnamed spokesperson for Gates also admitted to The Journal that there was an affair involving Bill almost two decades ago but it ended “amicably.”

Microsoft ‘received concern’ in late 2019

Microsoft, in an email, sent to the Associated Press said that it “received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000. A committee of the Board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm, to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern.”

Following Bill and Melinda Gates’ divorce announcement, on Sunday, The New York Times also reported that the Microsoft co-founder had developed “a reputation for questionable conduct in work-related settings.” The media publication reported that on at least a few occasions, the former world’s richest person made overtures to women who worked for him at the company as well as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Times also cited people with direct knowledge of Bill’s behaviour. 

IMAGE: AP