Bill and Melinda Gates divorce latest: Couple to ‘split property according to separation contract as they had NO prenup’

WHAT IS RORY GATES' NET WORTH?

Rory Gates certainly isn't poor, with his net worth estimated at around $20million, according to several websites.

But, his dad has stressed that each of his kids will get just a small slice of his multi-billion-dollar wealth.

In the 30 years from 1987 to 2016, Bill and Melinda Gates amassed about $120billion, reported  in 2018.

Bill, the , has spoken in the past about how each of his  would only inherit about $10million of his massive fortune.

During a Reddit Q&A session in 2013, when asked whether it was true he would give Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe $10million each,  confirmed that this amount was for their benefit.

WHO IS BILL AND MELINDA GATE’S SON RORY?

Rory Gates, 21, is the only son of Melinda and .

Born in May 1999 in Seattle, Washington, he is reportedly “notoriously private for good reason”, writes .

The second child of Bill and Melinda, Rory has two sisters – Phoebe, aged 18, and Jennifer, 25.

Like his dad, Rory attended Lakeside High School, an independent, coeducational day school for grades 5-12 in Seattle.

Rory is understood to have graduated from university, and is possibly currently pursuing an MBA degree.

IS BILL GATES RELIGIOUS?

Being married to a Catholic Christian,  has attended Catholic services.

He told : "We’ve raised our kids in a religious way; they’ve gone to the Catholic church that Melinda goes to and I participate in.”

The  says that once, while being asked about religion,  replied: "Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient.

"There's a lot more I could be doing on a Sunday morning."

The blog notes that although "there are other things he could be doing on Sunday mornings, he attends his wife's Catholic church with her and their children".

WHAT RELIGION IS MELINDA GATES?

, 56, is a Roman Catholic.

She attended a Catholic high school whose motto is serviam - I will serve.

The Ursuline nuns taught students that serving even one person makes a difference.

Melinda, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said: “That’s what faith in action means to me.

“It’s when we turn toward our neighbors instead of away and use our lives to lift up others.

"And it’s something everyone can do - it doesn’t matter who you are or what kind of resources you have. It’s something that comes from the heart.”

WHAT DOES ‘IRRETRIEVABLY BROKEN’ MEAN IN BILL & MELINDA’S DIVORCE DOCS?

 reveal Bill and Melinda’s union has been “irretrievably broken” – which are the “grounds” (a legally acceptable reason) to end a marriage.

Ultimately, this term means the relationship can no longer work, explains  in the US.

It implies they are seeking a no-fault divorce, which allows either spouse to file for a marriage dissolution as the marriage is irretrievably broken – and can’t be fixed.

It also means this can be done without having to prove the other spouse was engaged in certain acts, such as cruelty or abandonment, to justify ending the marriage.

Legal papers obtained by The Sun show that , 56, filed for the divorce, and said that the “parties are separated”.

MELINDA 'IS A TRULY EQUAL PARTNER' BILL SAYS

Marking 25 years of marriage in 2019, Bill and Melinda sat down for the Netflix documentary Inside Bill’s Brain and spoke about their marriage.

“In the case of Melinda, it is a truly equal partner,” Bill said. “She’s a lot like me in that she is optimistic and she is interested in science.

“She is better with people than I am. She’s a tiny bit less hardcore about knowing, you know, immunology, than I am,” he joked.

For Valentine’s Day in 2020, Bill Gates posted an Instagram photo showing him standing with his arm around Melinda, with the caption reading “I couldn’t ask for a better partner on this journey.”

COUPLE FELL IN LOVE AFTER CHANCE MEETING AT DINNER PARTY

Bill and Melinda Gates fell in love when she beat him at the murder mystery board game Cluedo after meeting at a company dinner party.

The couple’s romance started after talking at the dinner party in New York City in 1987 and grew when she beat him at puzzle competitions.

Melinda revealed in her 2019 book "The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World" that the pair "talked over dinner" that evening and Bill asked her out a few days later in the parking lot.

She said: "He struck up a conversation and asked me out two weeks from Friday. I laughed and said: ‘That’s not spontaneous enough for me. Ask me out closer to the date’ and gave him my number.

"I think he got intrigued when I beat him at a math game and won the first time at Clue, the board game where you figure out who did the murder in what room with what weapon."

BILL GATES, THE FOURTH RICHEST MAN IN THE WORLD

, the world’s fourth-richest man with a networth of $124 billion, currently owns 1.37 percent of Microsoft’s outstanding shares, which are worth more than $26 billion.

Bill created a pledge with Melinda and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett called the Giving Pledge, which would involve anyone who signed on to give more than half of their wealth to charitable causes.

The couple decided to move $20 billion worth of Microsoft stock to their foundation as they wanted to increase their commitment to philanthropy. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has more than $51 billion in assets and has invested more than $1.75 billion to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bill is the world’s fourth richest person, behind Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, LVMH’s Bernard Arnault and Tesla’s Elon Musk.

BILL GATES HIRES WARREN BUFFET'S LAWYER PAL

Bill Gates has hired Warren Buffet’s lawyer pal in his $124billion divorce from Melinda - but they don't have a prenup.

The law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson headed by Charles Munger - who is also a longtime pal of Gates - is listed as one of three firms representing the  mogul after he .

The firm representing Bill was founded in 1962 by legal eagle Munger, 97, who has known business investment tycoon Buffett since 1959.

Munger, who is also divorced and worth a cool $2.2 billion, , isn't listed as one of the lawyers on the case but he's close with Gates

The tech mogul had been a board member of Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway until last year, where Munger is vice chairman and the two men became friendly.

BILL ONLY PERSON ON EARTH WHO ‘DOESN’T COMPLAIN ABOUT WIFE’

Although Bill and Melinda are splitting after 27 years of marriage, a friend said the two are always going to be good friends.

“It doesn’t feel like there’s any inequality, even though he’s the one who started Microsoft and not her,” said Mike Slade, a friend of the couple.

“He appreciates everything about her as opposed to complaining about her.”

“I’ve never heard him complain about her. He’s the only person I know on this earth who I’ve never heard complain about his wife,” Slade added.

In the first episode of the 2019 Netflix docuseries Inside Bill’s Brain, Bill referred to Melinda as “totally my partner.”

LORD SUGAR TAKES SWIPE AT BILL GATES OVER HIS DIVORCE

Lord Sugar took to Twitter to poke fun at Bill Gates after he announced he and wife Melinda are divorcing.

The businessman caused a stir on social media with his Microsoft-inspired swipe.

"Lawyers must be licking their lips," Lord Sugar typed.

"I wonder if they will use Excel for the calculations. For sure they will use Word for legal communication most probably sent by email using Outlook."

Some annoyed users hit back, with one responding: "Very quick to jump and make jokes about other people's misfortunes."

HOW OLD IS MELINDA GATES?

Melinda Gates was born August 15, 1964 in Dallas, Texas.

She is 56 years old.

Melinda and Bill got married in 1994 and were together 27 years before announcing their divorce.

CLAUDIA CONWAY RIPS DAD FOR WADING INTO BILL GATES' DIVORCE

Claudia Conway has by asking "who gets the talking paper clip?"

Her comments came just months after she claimed that , but decided to "put on a show."

On Tuesday morning, just hours after , George quipped "who gets the talking paper clip in the divorce."

Claudia quickly hit out at her dad, retweeting his comments and saying "this is so ironic."

The teenager made the divorce claims in a documentary that she linked to in her  bio.

JENNIFER GATES RESPONDS TO PARENTS’ SPLIT

Jennifer Gates, the 25-year-old daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates, posted on Instagram that her family has been experiencing “a challenging stretch of time.”

“Hi friends, by now many of have heard the news that my parents are separating,” she wrote.

“I’m still learning how to best support my own process and emotions as well as my family members at this time and am grateful for the space to do so.”

She added that she won’t personally comment on her parents’ separation but said she thanked those who sent her messages and kind words during this time.

MOST EXPENSIVE DIVORCES EVER REVEALED

No one says "I do" at the altar believing that, one day, they're going to end up in a legal fight with their spouse about who gets to keep the private jet.

But despite having every resource available to make a marriage work, billionaires do end up in divorce proceedings like the rest of us — with Bill and Melinda Gates the latest power couple left wondering how they'll carve up their $130bn fortune.

It's thought the divorce will be the most expensive since Amazon boss Jeff Bezos' split from MacKenzie Scott in 2019, in which he paid out around $38billion.

From sports stars' separations to tech tycoons' secret trysts,

HOW LONG HAVE BILL AND MELINDA BEEN MARRIED?

Bill and Melinda Gates tied the knot on the Hawaiian Island of Lanai on January 1, 1994 - meaning they've been married for 27 years.

They have three children together - Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe.

Bill and Melinda met each other in 1987 at Microsoft. Bill had just founded the tech company, and Melinda, who was 24 at the time, had just gotten a job there.

They got married seven years later. A year later, Bill became the richest man in the entire world.

The two went on to found the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 1999 with the mission of fighting “poverty, disease and inequity around the world.”

BILL AND MELINDA’S PROJECTS THROUGH RECENT YEARS

The Gates have been running the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation since 2000, when Bill stepped down as Microsoft CEO to run the foundation full time. In recent years, the couple began focusing on other areas of interest.

In 2015, Bill established Breakthrough Energy, an initiative intended to show climate change, which also includes a venture arm. That same year Melinda created Pivotal Ventures, a company that makes investments to increase equality.

For the foundation, the couple published annual letters regarding the foundation’s work.

The , published in January, spoke to the impact of the pandemic and their efforts in bringing vaccines worldwide.

“For us, the days became a blur of video meetings, troubling news alerts, and microwaved meals,” they wrote.

GATES KIDS TO INHERIT ONLY $10 MILLION

After Bill and Melinda Gates’ divorce documents revealed the couple never had a prenup, many are wondering how the couple, with a combined net worth of $130 billion, will split their assets.

Gates, the world’s fourth-richest man, has spoken in the past about how each of his three children will only inherit about $10 million of his fortune.

When asked about rumors that he would only leave his three children — Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe — $10million each during a Reddit AMA session in 2013, Gates explained that it was for their benefit.

“I definitely think leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favor to them,” he said.

WHAT IS MELINDA GATES' NET WORTH?

Melinda Gates is a philanthropist, businesswoman and global advocate who is probably best known for her marriage to Bill Gates.

Melinda is the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

According to the foundation's website, she "shapes and approves strategies, reviews results, and sets the organization's overall direction.

She works with grantees and partners to further the foundation's goals."

The soon-to-be ex-wife of the Microsoft founder is worth $70billion, according to .

MELINDA FELT 'ALONE' IN HER MARRIAGE TO BILL

Bill Gates' wife Melinda felt "alone" and isolated in their 27-year marriage before the Microsoft mogul confirmed their divorce yesterday.

In a 2017 interview, the other half of the  and Melinda Gates Foundation opened up about the reality of being married to her tech billionaire husband after describing how isolated she felt in her book.

In The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World,  wrote: "When we first had [our daughter] Jenn, I felt very alone in our marriage.

"Bill was CEO of  at the time. He was beyond busy; everyone wanted him, and I was thinking, "OK, maybe he wanted to have kids in theory, but not in reality."'

But Melinda said they then carved out more "equal" roles and a partnership,"which included Bill driving Jennifer to school several days a week.

WHO IS BILL AND MELINDA GATE'S SON RORY?

Rory Gates, 21, is the only son of Melinda and .

Born in May 1999 in Seattle, Washington, he is reportedly "notoriously private for good reason", writes .

The second child of Bill and Melinda, Rory has two sisters - Phoebe, aged 18, and Jennifer, 25.

Like his dad, Rory attended Lakeside High School, an independent, coeducational day school for grades 5-12 in Seattle.

Rory is understood to have graduated from university, and is possibly currently pursuing an MBA degree.

BILL GATES LISTED PROS AND CONS OF MARRIAGE BEFORE TYING KNOT WITH MELINDA

Bill Gates listed the pros and cons of getting married on a whiteboard while Melinda found the relationship "incredibly hard".

Two years before Bill announced their bombshell divorce, he revealed had listed the pros and cons of marriage on a whiteboard in Netflix’s three-episode series, “."

After a year of dating following their 1987, Melinda described how they had reached a crossroads in their relationship and Bill had to make a decision.

One day when Melinda walked into Bill's bedroom he had been making a list on a board.

"His whiteboard had the pros and the cons of getting married," his estranged wife said in the documentary, then laughing at the memory.

WHAT IS BILL GATES' NET WORTH?

As of May 2021, Gates' net worth was estimated at roughly more than $130.5billion, according to .

Forbes highlights:

• Bill Gates co-chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable foundation.
• In May 2020, the Gates Foundation said it would spend $300 million to fight the coronavirus pandemic, funding treatment, detection and vaccines.
• Gates has sold or given away much of his stake in Microsoft -- he owns just over 1% of shares -- and invested in a mix of stocks and other assets.
• To date, Gates has donated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the Gates Foundation.

"THIS MARRIAGE IS IRRETRIEVABLY BROKEN"

The Sun has seen Bill and Melinda Gates' divorce filing, with a line reading their marriage was "irretrievably broken."

Court documents show the couple signed a separation agreement where they are asking the judge to honor as their date of divorce.

It also states neither Melinda, who filed the document, nor Bill, the respondent, have requested fees or an order of protection.

Unsurprisingly, no spousal support is requested. However, the couple's property and finances are asked to be divided between the two of them.

INSIDE BILL GATES' $80BILLION PROPERTY EMPIRE

Bill Gates' $80billion property empire now hangs in the balance after he and his wife of 27 years announced they are divorcing.

Properties up for grabs include a $123million mansion with a trampoline room and a $43million oceanfront mansion with a ten-person jacuzzi.

Gates, worth $130.5billion is one of the only eight people in the world worth over $100billion, and is the fourth richest man in the world.

Over the years, he has made lavish purchases which include a $40million private airplane and a large luxury car collection.