Microsoft founder Bill Gates, 66, and his wife Melinda Gates, 57, have decided to put an end to their 27-year marriage. The two announced their divorce on the 3rd (local time) through their respective Twitter accounts. The American entertainment media TMZ reported on the same day that Melinda obtained and reported the divorce petition filed with the King County District Court in Washington. [EPA=연합뉴스]
Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda French Gates are officially divorced.
CNBC reported this fact on the 2nd (local time) citing documents related to the divorce of the two people submitted to the Superior Court in King County, Washington.
The two agreed to divide Gates’ property worth about 175 trillion won, but details were not disclosed.
It has been three months since they announced that they had agreed to a breakup on May 3rd. As a result, the two separated completely after 27 years of marriage.
U.S. courts have a 90-day grace period after filing for divorce.
Business Insider, an economic media outlet, citing court documents, said the two had agreed to a property division agreement, but details were not submitted to the court.
A division agreement is a document that stipulates how to divide property, debts, and legal expenses involved in divorce proceedings.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bill Gates is the fourth-richest person in the world, with a net worth of $152 billion.
“The state of Washington states that married couples have equal rights to all property accumulated during marriage,” Bloomberg News reported. told
Since the couple do not have minor children, the court’s divorce decree did not include child custody or child support.
The documents state that neither of them want to change their names, but they are not sure how things will change in the future, CNBC said.
Bill Gates and Melinda Gates started dating in 1987, married in 1994, and co-founded the charitable foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2000.
When the two announced their divorce in May, they announced that they would continue to run the foundation together, but now that the divorce has been finalized, there is a possibility that they will split up in the operation of the foundation, CNBC reported.
On May 3, Bill Gates announced on Twitter that he would divorce his wife, Merlanda. “After a lot of hard work and hard work to keep the relationship going, we’ve made the decision to end our marriage,” Bill and Melinda said in a joint statement at the time.
By Bae Jae-seong, staff reporter hongdoya@joongang.co.kr
