Bill Gates has been the “bill” in “billionaire” for many years. The 65-year-old tech titan, who founded Microsoft, held the title of the world’s richest person from 1995 to 2010, then again from 2013 to 2017—the year Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, finally dethroned him. Since then, Gates and Bezos have contested the title of having the most expensive divorce in the world. After 27 years of marriage, Bill and his then-wife Melinda Gates announced their separation on May 3, 2021. The longtime lovers reportedly didn’t have a prenuptial agreement at the time, which meant Bill’s finances might suffer significantly after their divorce, according to TMZ. Four months later, their divorce was reportedly finalized, with Melinda reportedly surpassing the $38 billion or so that MacKenzie Bezos received from her ex-husband Jeff in her own 2019 settlement—which had been the largest divorce settlement ever documented—in just four months. Whatever happens, it’s safe to say that Bill and Melinda Gates will both be abundantly wealthy when the smoke clears. Here is what we know about the exact net worth of Bill and Melinda Gates.
How much is Bill Gates’ net worth?
Gates is predicted to have a net worth of $133.8 billion as of March 2022, making him the fourth richest person in the world.
How much is Melinda Gates worth?
There was no prenup [and] Bill’s net worth is estimated to be more than $130 billion, so the divorce settlement could leave Melinda with more than $65 billion, according to a TMZ article from August 2021 on the specifics of the Gates split.
However, there’s still more! Melinda has been profiting from the split for months, according to TMZ. The day she filed for divorce, Bill gave her nearly $2 billion in stocks, and the next day, he gave her 25 million shares of Mexican Coca-Cola. Additionally, Cascade Investment, Bill’s investment vehicle, transferred $851 million worth of shares of farm equipment manufacturer Deere & Co. to Melinda on Thursday, May 13, according to SEC filings, Forbes reported in the weeks following the divorce bombshell. Melinda French Gates is now valued at $3.3 billion, according to Forbes, and Bill remains the fourth-richest person in the world with an estimated net worth of $126.1 billion following the most recent stock transfer.
Did Bill and Melinda Gates have a prenup?
Although it has been claimed by numerous media outlets that Bill and Melinda Gates did not enter into a prenuptial agreement before getting married in 1994, it appears that their divorce has been relatively amicable. According to TMZ, “neither party will receive spousal support.” Since they don’t have any minor children, there are no concerns about child support or custody.
Will Bill Gates’ kids inherit his wealth?
In 2011, Gates told The Daily Mail that each of his three children would receive just $10 million in inheritance. That’s roughly one percent of the computing pioneer’s fortune.
Is Bill Gates the wealthiest person on the planet?
No, he is not and has not been for some time. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, came in second on Forbes’ 2021 World’s Billionaires List behind Bezos, who was ranked first with a fortune estimated at $177 billion. With a net worth of $150 billion, French investor Bernard Arnault came in third. Bill Gates was right behind him at No. 4, with an estimated net worth of $124 billion (which, as of March 2022, had increased to $133.8 billion, but still ranked him fourth on the list of the world’s richest people).
By April 2022, Musk had surpassed Bezos to claim the title of the world’s richest person.
How did Bill Gates make his money?
In 1975, Gates and his childhood best friend, Paul Allen, co-founded Microsoft. Since the company’s founding, Gates has held the positions of CEO, chairman, and chief software architect. In 1980, IBM computers adopted their MS-DOS operating system as the standard. One of the richest men in America, Gates’ shares in Microsoft alone was worth $350 million when the company went public. When Windows 95 was introduced in 1995, Gates briefly held the title of the richest man on Earth. His fortune reached the $100 billion mark in 1999. The 1990 release of Microsoft Office only served to increase Gates’ enormous wealth.
