No one would have thought that Bill and Melinda Gates, billionaire sweethearts, would ever separate. But they made the daunting announcement in May 2021.
However, since their eventual separation, Bill Gates has transferred shares, in excess of $3 billion, to his ex-wife. Interestingly, the duo still collaborate occasionally, thanks to their joint stake in the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Melinda French Gates Became a Shareholder in Deeres & Co.
According to a Wall Street publication, some shares that changed hands between the estranged couple are for Deeres & Co. The publication’s breakdown spotlights $850 million worth of Deeres shares as part of the wealth transfer.
This culminates in about 2.25 million unit shares of the equipment manufacturing company.
Statutory Declaration of Transferred Shares
Speculations are that the volume of Deeres & Co. shares that changed hands between the former lovebirds is roughly 7 percent of Bill Gates’ stake in the company.
The shares transfer was not shrouded in secrecy, as some details were made public by Cascade Investment LLC, which manages Mr. Gates’ investments.
Company Policy and Financial Transparency
The WSJ report infers that Bill Gates’ public disclosure about the wealth transfer was not a showoff or financial muscle-flexing.
Instead, Mr Gates had to do it as part of a reporting requirement that binds shareholders that have stakes in excess of 10 percent. The WSJ report read, “The filing said Mr. Gates received no consideration for the shares.”
A Win-win Transaction
The details of the securities filing revealed that even after transferring shares to Melinda French Gates, her ex still holds a sizable portfolio in Deeres & Co.
The report claims that Bill and Cascade still control 9.3 percent of Deere & Co. shares, making up about 29.3 million units.
Cutting the Pie at Multiple Points
It does not end there, as the WSJ publication clarifies that Bill Gates equally initiated multiple other share transfers to Melinda in the same week as the Deeres & Co. transfer.
For example, stakes in AutoNation Inc., an undisclosed Canadian railroad, a Coca-Cola bottling facility, and many others changed hands between the Gates around that same time.
A Divorce Can Make You $3 Billion Richer
The other transfers, in total, besides the Deeres & Co. shares, were estimated to be worth $2.4 billion.
Before initiating their divorce proceedings, Forbes estimated the couple as having a combined worth of $130 billion. Interestingly, there are reports that the couple’s separation did not set the media spaces abuzz, thanks to due diligence.
Intelligent People Don’t Rule Out Possibilities
An anonymous source disclosed that the couple had considered the eventualities of separation long before their relationship went sour.
So, the couple had a legal agreement in place all the while to govern the distribution of wealth if and when they do separate. The couple thought this necessary to avoid a scandalous and noisy separation involving litigation.
A Very Private Dissolution of Marriage
Indeed, Gates’ divorce was a strictly private affair that the public only learned about after it was sealed and settled.
Many have commended the discretion of the couples’ lawyers and the professionalism with which they handled their divorce. The duo settled their relational differences with the utmost maturity. The Gates’ showed the world that it is possible to settle marital differences without legal back-and-forth.
How to Have a Strife-free Divorce
Celebrity lawyer Randy Kessler said, “Mr and Mrs Gates and their lawyers have done an exemplary job of resolving their issues privately and professionally and have therefore controlled their own matters instead of leaving it to a judge.”
By nature, people can be very barbaric and uncouth when it comes to ending wedlock, particularly when a vast trove of wealth is at stake.
Everyone Is Eager to Know What Happened
Many speculations have been made about what prompted the couple’s separation after 27 years of marriage. An unnamed source close to the family suggested that Bill Gates’s 2000 relationship with one of his Microsoft staff members made it to the list of strife-causing items.
However, the informer was quick to point out that the separation probably goes deeper than Bill having a one-off extramarital affair.
It’s Not All That ‘Black and White’
The separation probably resulted from the maturation of the couples’ self-identity and general outlook on life. It is not difficult to imagine each of them daydreaming about what it would be like to band off alone without the burden of a spouse.
During their 27 years together, Melinda and Bill had three children—Jenniffer, Phoebe, and Rory. They got married on the first day of the year 1994.