MicrosoftFINAL 2021
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates
1994–2021
$76B
Estimate of half their fortune. The full terms were never disclosed.
- Years
- 27
- Kids
- 3
- Per day
- $7.5M
- Rank
- #1
ceodivorcetracker.com/divorces/gates
Divorces Gates
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates
27 years, three kids, one foundation, and a $76 billion number nobody has ever confirmed.
TL;DR
- Married on New Year’s Day 1994 in Hawaii. Melinda filed on May 3, 2021, and the divorce was final on August 2, 2021. There was no prenup. (Business Insider; Wikipedia: Melinda French Gates)
- Within weeks of the announcement, Bill’s holding company moved more than $3 billion of stock into her name. By August 2021 she held about $5.7 billion in stock from the split. (BNN Bloomberg)
- The $76 billion figure is an estimate. The first hard number surfaced in January 2026: a $7.88 billion gift to her foundation, part of a $12.5 billion commitment. (Wikipedia: List of most expensive divorces; Fortune)
The box score
The marriage, scored like a season.
- YRS
- 27 years married
- DAYS
- 10,075 days married
- KIDS
- 3 children
- SET
- $76B settlement
- $/DAY
- $7.5M per day married
- RK
- #1 of 46 on record
Advanced stats
- Per hour married
- $314K
- Median U.S. household incomes, per day
- 90
- In $1 bills, stacked
- 5,158 miles
Per-day figures divide the settlement by the days married. Household income: U.S. Census Bureau, Income in the United States: 2024, Sep 9, 2025. $1-bill thickness: Bureau of Engraving and Printing, currency facts (archived).
Tale of the tape
Bill Gates kept
- Cascade Investment and everything it didn’t transfer
- The Gates Foundation, with him as sole chair
Melinda French Gates got
- Canadian National Railway, AutoNation, Deere, Coca-Cola Femsa and Grupo Televisa stock, about $5.7 billion by August 2021
- $12.5 billion for her own philanthropy after leaving the foundation in 2024
- $7.88 billion of that, paid to her Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation in 2024
Sources: (BNN Bloomberg; Wikipedia: Melinda French Gates; Fortune 2021; Fortune 2026)
The receipts
$7.88B
The only settlement number confirmed on paper. It turned up in a tax filing more than four years after the divorce.
(Fortune)$1.8B
Railroad and car-dealer stock that moved into her name the day after the announcement.
(Al Jazeera)$76B
The headline estimate, half their combined fortune. Nobody has confirmed it, which hasn’t stopped anyone from quoting it. Including us.
(Wikipedia: List of most expensive divorces)The number everyone quotes, next to the ones on paper
Where it ranks
No. 1 of 46 divorces with a reported price tag.
Timeline
1987
Melinda joins Microsoft and starts dating Bill. (Wikipedia: Melinda French Gates)
Jan 1, 1994
Married on Lanai, Hawaii. (Business Insider)
May 3, 2021
Divorce announced. She filed the petition in King County, Washington. (Wikipedia: Melinda French Gates)
May 4, 2021
Cascade has already moved $1.8 billion in stock to her. (Al Jazeera)
Aug 2, 2021
Divorce final. (Wikipedia: Melinda French Gates)
Jun 7, 2024
She leaves the Gates Foundation, with $12.5 billion for her own philanthropy. (Wikipedia: Melinda French Gates)
Jan 2026
A tax filing shows a $7.88 billion gift to her foundation. (Fortune)
Next on the docket
Sources
- Al Jazeera, “Bill Gates’ company transfers $1.8bn of equities to Melinda Gates,” May 4, 2021
- BNN Bloomberg, “Melinda French Gates now owns US$5.7B in stock post-divorce,” Aug 6, 2021
- Bureau of Engraving and Printing, currency facts (archived)
- Business Insider, “The first time Bill Gates asked Melinda Gates out on a date, she turned him down”
- Fortune, “Bill Gates donated record $8 billion to Melinda French Gates’ foundation as part of their divorce settlement,” Jan 9, 2026
- Fortune, “Melinda Gates has received $2 billion in stock since her divorce announcement,” May 6, 2021
- U.S. Census Bureau, Income in the United States: 2024, Sep 9, 2025
- Wikipedia, “List of most expensive divorces”
- Wikipedia, “Melinda French Gates”
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