Invoice and Melinda Gates file for divorce – KIRO 7 Information Seattle

SEATTLE – Washington’s power couple posted the news on Twitter.

Melinda and Bill Gates divorce after 27 years of marriage.

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, was valued at $ 133 billion on the last check.

The news has shocked the world for donating billions of dollars to causes around the world.

Both announced on Monday on Twitter: “We have made the decision to end our marriage.”

As for how the staggering amount of assets will be shared, divorce papers filed on Monday stated that the Gates have a separation agreement. These details are not public.

There’s no mention of a prenup. But attorney Laurie Robertson says courts in Washington state tend to treat “long-term” marriages in a certain way. Robertson is a partner in the Washington Family Law Group.

Robertson says after about 22 or 23 years of marriage the court really begins to weigh the length of the marriage – there is no specific set time frame.

“The courts want the parties to leave this marriage as much as possible – on an equal footing, financially on an equal footing,” said Robertson. “The court doesn’t want any party to be disadvantaged,” she said.

We are all human !! The Bill & Melinda divorce papers say, “This marriage is irretrievably broken.” (Default language.)

Prenup? Docs don’t mention it. Says they have a separation agreement.

Melinda’s book describes some of the challenges facing marriage, including the requirement for an equal partnership. pic.twitter.com/841OhmyL3D

– Deedee Sun (@ DeedeeKIRO7) May 4, 2021

Those who study philanthropy said there is no reason to think this is going to stop, but it is likely to change.

In the world of philanthropy, no two names have resonated more than Bill and Melinda Gates – or someone has given more.

The couple, made fabulously rich from Bill Gates’ founding of Microsoft, promised to give away half of their fortune.

Along the way, they became experts on a range of topics from poverty to the threat of viruses.

“Well, there will be other viruses emerging that we’ve never seen as a globe,” Melinda Gates said when speaking with CBS’s Gayle King last January.

They talked a lot about the pandemic, their now estranged husband’s efforts to gun vaccines around the world, and the conspiracy theories that the legal profession has spawned.

“I have certainly heard a lot of these conspiracy theories. This disinformation leads to more death, ”said Gates. “It leads to people not doing the right things.”

We have Dr. Elizabeth Dale, an associate professor of community leadership at Seattle University, asked to weigh up. She said the couple’s divorce was a tectonic shift because their philanthropy developed together.

“They have been tremendously inspiring,” said Dale, “and role models with their giving.”

But she said the form that giving takes can change now.

“We could end up seeing that either another foundation is created. Or maybe it will continue to work together professionally, ”said Dale.

The couple stated in their tweet that they plan to continue working together, as they have done in the nearly three decades they have been married.

Bill and Melinda were married on January 1, 1994 in Lanai, Hawaii. KIRO7 cameras were there to capture this reception dance.

Rarely seen KIRO7 footage from Bill and Melinda’s 1994 wedding reception in Lanai, Hawaii.

You changed the world.

Now, 27 years later, their divorce is rocking the philanthropy community. But even if their good work changes, we know it will continue! @ KIRO7Seattle pic.twitter.com/rZHp91rANt

– Deedee Sun (@ DeedeeKIRO7) May 4, 2021