Melinda Gates Reportedly Began Mulling Divorce From Bill Gates Years Ago

TOPLINE Billionaire couple Bill and Melinda Gates announced they are splitting after 27 years of marriage on Monday, but Melinda Gates first began talks with divorce lawyers in 2019 according to divorce documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal, which the newspaper said coincided with Bill Gates’ relationship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein coming under public scrutiny.

KEY FACTS BY FORBES
– A divorce filing dated May 3 shows the Gates agreed to divide their more than $130 billion worth of assets via a separation contract, the Wall Street Journal reported.

• Both have star-studded legal teams: Melinda has hired Robert Stephan, the New York lawyer who also represented Ivana Trump, Michael Bloomberg and Henry Kravis during their respective divorces, while Bill has retained former Mark Zuckerberg attorney Ronald Olson.

• Because all three of the couple’s children are 18 or older, they will not need to hash out custody issues.

• According to the Wall Street Journal, court documents indicate Melinda made calls to divorce lawyers in October 2019 after the New York Times ran an article about her husband’s friendship with Epstein that began in 2011, after Epstein was convicted of sex crimes against minors in 2008.

• One former employee of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told the Wall Street Journal Melinda had been concerned about her husband’s relationship with Epstein as early as 2013, six years before he was arrested again on charges of sex trafficking girls as young as 14.

• Neither Bill nor Melinda Gates has come forward about the reason behind their split, and their foundation did not immediately return a Forbes request for comment.