Melinda Gates, NOT Bill, filed for divorce; will not seek spousal support: 'The marriage is irretrievably broken'
Bill and Melinda Gates' marriage was "irretrievably broken" per their divorce documents, which also revealed that the billionaire exes have no prenup. It was 56-year-old Melinda who filed for the divorce, per legal papers obtained by The Sun.
"The marriage is irretrievably broken," the documents say. "We ask the court to dissolve our marriage and find that our marital community ended on the date stated in our separation contract."
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According to The Sun, there appears to be no prenuptial agreement as the papers state that the only written agreement about the divorce is the separation contract. Meanwhile, the papers also indicate that Melinda is not demanding any spousal support from the 65-year-old tech mogul, who is worth at least $124 billion.
The former couple announced their divorce in a statement on Monday, May 3. Bill Gates said they had decided to end the relationship after a "great deal of thought and a lot of work." The Sun noted how this came just two years after his wife admitted that marital life was "really hard."
The Microsoft co-founder said they had raised "three incredible children" while working on their philanthropic endeavors at the same time. "We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives," Gates said in a statement shared on Twitter. "We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life," he added. Melinda also tweeted an identical statement from her account.
25-year-old Jennifer, the couple's eldest daughter, shared an Instagram story shortly after her parents went public with the announcement. "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 wrote. "I won't personally comment further on anything around the separation, but please know that your kind words and support mean the world to me." Jennifer has two siblings — her brother, Rory, 22, and her sister, Phoebe, 19.
Melinda had previously admitted that being with Gates was often "incredibly hard." “When he was having trouble making the decision about getting married, he was incredibly clear that it was not about me, it was about ‘Can I get the balance right between work and family life?”’ she told The Sunday Times in 2019 when the couple marked 25 years of marriage.
They had first met at a business dinner in New York City when Melinda joined Microsoft in 1987. According to The Sun, Gates had to make a pros-and-cons list about getting married after a year of dating. “You know, we cared a lot for each other and there were only two possibilities: either, we were going to break up or we were going to get married,” Gates reportedly said in the Netflix series "Inside Bill's Brain".
“I took the idea of marriage very seriously,” he added. The duo would eventually tie the knot in Lanai, Hawaii, in January 1994.
Melinda's net worth is nearly $70 billion, according to Spear's.