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Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates are officially divorced, according to just-released court documents

Aug 3, 2021, 02:09 IST
Business Insider
Separation agreements, like the one between Bill and Melinda Gates, is one way to keep details of a divorce out of public courts. REUTERS/Kamil Zihnioglu/Pool
  • A judge signed off on the divorce between Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates on Monday.
  • The couple announced they were splitting up in May.
  • They had been married for 27 years.
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Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates have officially divorced after a judge finalized their split on Monday, court records showed.

The couple, who have three adult children together, announced they were divorcing in May after 27 years of marriage, saying they could no longer "grow together." French Gates said in a court filing in May that she would not be changing her name.

The final divorce order filed by the court said the two agreed to a "separation contract" that was not filed in the divorce proceedings. The separation contract includes how the two will divide their property, debt, and court fees. Each of the Gates children is 18 or older, therefore the courts did not establish a parenting or child-support plan.

French Gates sought divorce lawyers in 2019 after Gates' ties to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein surfaced, The Wall Street Journal reported. The couple secretly got married on January 1, 1994, in Lanai, Hawaii, with party performances from Willie Nelson and Alice Cooper.

In the weeks following the divorce announcement in May, Gates was accused in reports of being an office bully who had pursued sexual affairs. He was then seen in July at a "billionaire summer camp" in Idaho.

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Both French Gates and Gates plan to remain cochairs of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to combat poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. If the pair cannot work together, French Gates can step down in two years, according to Mark Suzman, the CEO of the Gates Foundation.

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