Bill and Melinda Gates reportedly don’t have a prenup.
According to the divorce filing documents obtained by TMZ, the tech billionaire and his wife don’t have a prenuptial agreement. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Bill and Melinda Gates Divorcing After 27 Years of Marriage https://t.co/0lx2dgPM3W
— TMZ (@TMZ) May 3, 2021
In theory, that means Gates could be on the hook for an incredibly large chunk of his estimated $130 billion net worth if things go sideways with his divorce.
If she gets 50% of Gates’ assets and money, Melinda would immediately become the second richest woman in the world with roughly $65 billion.
According to Forbes, the only woman with more money would be Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, who is the granddaughter of the man who founded L’Oréal.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 3, 2021
The top five would be rounded out by Alice Walton (daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton), Jeff Bezo’s ex-wife Mackenzie Scott and Julia Koch.
For those of you following along, that would mean the five richest women in the world have gained their wealth from inheritance, divorce, inheritance, divorce and death.
Read into that as much as you’d like.
As for Bill, I just can’t believe a guy who has been so rich for so long didn’t have a prenup. The man was a billionaire by the 1980s and he didn’t marry Melinda until the 1990s.
However, there’s also a great chance she doesn’t walk away with a clean split. According to TMZ, she doesn’t want spousal support. That would seem to indicate that this won’t get ugly.
Either way, let this be a lesson to anyone sitting on piles of cash. There’s no marriage that is beyond a divorce. I’m a pro-love guy, but I’m not stupid. Protect your assets, especially when they’re the size of the GDP of a country.