Bill and Melinda Gates' marriage of 27 years is now officially and legally over. A judge signed off on their divorce Monday, more than two months after they announced their plans to split.
In May, the powerhouse couple said that they would be separating as they could no longer "grow together as a couple." Melinda filed for divorce in King County, Washington, citing that their marriage was "irretrievably broken."
The judge signed off on the couple's divorce agreement, which was pursuant to a private separation contract. Public court documents showed that the couple had agreed to exclude any spousal support payments. Melinda also doesn't plan to change her last name, as indicated in the court documents.
The two did not have a prenuptial agreement in place but agreed they would divide their assets according to their private separation agreement. Because all of their children are already adults, child support and custody agreements were no longer an issue.
The details of their private separation contract still remain unclear. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bill Gates's net worth now stands at around $152 billion. If the two agreed to split their assets in half, each of them could be worth around $76 billion following the divorce.
Bill and Melinda agreed to continue to work together at their foundation. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the world's largest charitable organization with an endowment of around $50 billion at the end of last year. The foundation's CEO, Mark Suzman, said they are planning a two-year trial period to see if the pair can continue to effectively work together despite their separation.
The couple originally met at Microsoft in 1987 before marrying in 1994. Melinda worked at the company as a product manager. The two share three children together.
Sources familiar with the matter said the two had been estranged prior to their separation announcement in May. Last year, Microsoft's board of directors hired a law firm to investigate reports of Gates' alleged romantic relationship with an employee in 2000. A spokesperson for the Microsoft founder later acknowledged the relationship but clarified that it had nothing to do with Gates' exit from the company's board.
