Bill and Melinda Gates are now officially divorced after a 27-year marriage, NBC News reports.
The divorce between the wealthy pair, who are the co-founders of one of the world’s largest private charitable foundations, was finalized on Monday, August 2nd, by a judge in King County, Washington, a court document showed.
Melinda French Gates’ petition for divorce, filed to the court on May 3, stated that the couple’s relationship was “irretrievably broken.” The divorce paperwork finalized on Monday said that she would not be changing her name and did not offer any spousal support, which French Gates said was not necessary in her original filing.
The court did not issue money, property, or spousal support judgments in the divorce. It said the couple must comply with the terms of the separation contract that was not filed in King county superior court.
Gates, 65, and French Gates, 56, first 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.”
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” they said in the statement. “Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.”
They also agreed to continue to run The Gates Foundation together following their divorce. The foundation’s assets have been valued at nearly $50 billion, according to its financial statements.
The couple’s joint fortune is estimated at around $124 billion, including a 66,000-square-foot mansion on Lake Washington in the Seattle suburb of Medina. The house’s worth is estimated at nearly $150 million.
Bill Gates co-founded Microsoft in 1975. He met Melinda French when she worked for the company, and they married in Hawaii in 1994. In 2000, they established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
According to the couple, if after two years Gates and French Gates decide they cannot continue in their roles, French Gates will resign her positions as co-chair and trustee. Gates would buy her out of the foundation and she would receive resources from him to do her own philanthropic work as part of the agreement