There Is No Prenuptial Agreement With Bill Gates, Melinda Gates Could Be The Second Richest Woman In The World

Melinda Gates. (Wikimedia Commons/DFID - UK Department for International Development)

JAKARTA - The multi-billionaire couple Bill Gates and Melinda Gates surprisingly announced their divorce after being married for 27 years, via his Twitter account. As one of the richest couples in the world, Bill and Melinda have joint assets of $ 146 billion or around IDR 2,177 trillion.

In her divorce petition in Superior Court of King County, Seattle, Washington, Monday, May 3, Melinda asked the court to share her combined wealth with Bill Gates. A move that could make Melinda, a philanthropist and women's empowerment campaigner become the second richest woman in the world, with a fortune estimated at $ 73 billion.

The 50-50 split possibly due to filing a divorce petition also revealed that the couple who married in 1994 did not sign a prenuptial agreement. And, under Washington State law divorced couples are expected to divide their assets evenly.

If that continues, Melinda French Gates, who recently introduced her daughter's name French to her social media profiles, will be behind Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, the 67-year-old owner of L'Oreal, whose inheritance is now worth some $ 83 billion.

According to the Bloomberg billionaire index, Bill Gates is currently ranked the fourth richest in the world, with a total wealth of around $ 146 billion. However, he would have been much richer and probably still the richest person in the world, had he not given at least $ 40 billion to the couple's charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Melinda Gates. (Wikimedia Commons / Chatham House)

The divorce also questions the future of the couple's philanthropic efforts through the foundation, which also draws cash from other donors, ranging from fellow billionaire Warren Buffett to the British government.

While the couple said they would remain co-chairs of the foundation, some experts suggest divorcing couples may have very different and very strong views on the future direction of the charity.

It is a sprawling foundation, employing 1,600 staff based in Seattle, that has provided 50 billion to projects in 135 countries since its inception in 2000 and still has assets worth $ 43 billion.

The foundation focuses on projects to improve global health care, education, and gender equality with big ambitions, offering to eradicate some diseases, such as polio, completely.

Besides that, this charity foundation also provides support in case of natural disasters. Last year, the foundation provided $ 1.8 billion for emergency medical supplies for the coronavirus, PPE, and vaccines. Then, $ 2 billion was allocated to try and eradicate malaria in one generation and $ 1.6 billion to help students of color in the US. The Guardian's Global Development website is supported by the foundation.

"Because the Gates Foundation is a family foundation and Gates separated their families, divorce may have a major impact on the foundation and its work around the world", said Rob Reich, professor of political science at Stanford University, as reported by The Guardian, Wednesday, May 5.

Community property

The couple's extraordinary personal fortune includes their 66,000-square-foot main home overlooking Lake Washington which is valued at $ 130 million, and a series of vacation homes such as a $ 43 million seaside beach house near San Diego, a ranch. worth $ 59 million in Florida and a 492-acre ranch in Wyoming.

In addition to the property portfolio, the couple owns several private jets and a fleet of cars, including a $ 2 million Porsche 959 and an electric Porsche Taycan. Their main home in Medina, across Lake Washington from Seattle, has a garage that can accommodate up to 23 cars.

The residence of Bill Gates. (Wikimedia Commons / Madeline Stone)

Their main house, known as Xanadu 2.0 after Charles Foster Kane's fictional land of 1941 film, Citizen Kane, is built from 500 Douglas fir trees and features no less than six kitchens.

There is also a pool house with a 60-foot swimming pool with an underwater sound system, while for those who want to exercise without getting wet, there is a trampoline room.

In the main house is a 2,100 square foot library with a domed roof. On the ceiling is a quote engraved from The Great Gatsby. The library is home to the Codex Leicester, a 16th-century Leonardo da Vinci manuscript that Gates purchased at auction for $ 31 million in 1994.

The 2,300-square-foot ballroom accommodates up to 150 people for a formal dinner or accommodates 200 for a cocktail party.

Gates is also one of the largest private owners of agricultural land in the US, with about 242,000 hectares in 18 different states valued at around $ 700 million. In comparison, land ownership is almost the size of Hong Kong.

Washington State is one of the few states in the United States with so-called community property laws, which consider that most property acquired during a marriage is a joint property of the couple and should be shared equally. The couple Bill Gates and Melinda Gates are scheduled to appear in court in April 2022.