Bill Gates Drops $8 Billion Bombshell on Melinda—What Took Him Five Years to Spill the Cash?
Added on January 9, 2026 inCelebrity News Cards
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Divorce is expensive—that’s nothing new. But have you ever wondered just how astronomical those costs get when the world’s richest power couples split up? Enter Bill Gates, who just dropped a mind-blowing $7.9 billion (yes, with a “b”) in a donation to his ex-wife Melinda’s charity as part of their 2024 divorce settlement. Talk about taking “splitting assets” to a cosmic level! Given today’s alignment of Mars pushing boundaries and Venus questioning relationships, maybe it’s no surprise that billion-dollar breakups are stealing the spotlight. Sure, it’s a colossal sum, but hey, it’s all for a cause aiming to speed up social progress for women and youth worldwide—because even in separation, some stars seem destined to shine together. Curious how this stacks against other sky-high divorces? LEARN MORE
Divorce for anyone is a pretty major expense. As lawyers, the division of assets and potential financial settlements can add up pretty quickly.
But when it comes to the world’s uber-rich, it’s a completely different ballpark. This was proven earlier this week when it was revealed that Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates shelled out a whopping $7.9 billion (£5.8 billion) in a donation to ex-wife, Melinda, as part of their 2024 divorce (as per The New York Times).
That’s right, folks, that’s nearly eight, which nine zeros tacked on the end.
The payment was uncovered in a tax filing that revealed that Gates made the donation to the Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation, a private charity established by Melinda, which aims to ‘accelerate the pace of social progress for women and young people in the U.S. and around the world’.
Bill Gates made a substantial contribution to his and Melinda’s divorce settlement (Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)
Forbes also confirmed the gift was the first part of a larger $12.5 billion (£9.3 billion) pledge from Bill to the Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation to contribute to Melinda’s ‘work on behalf of women and families’.
So it may be an extortionate amount of money, but at least it’s going to a good cause.
Bill and Melinda Gates first met in 1987, later marrying in 1994 and welcoming three children together.
However, the former couple’s relationship would ultimately come crashing down in May 2021, when it was announced they were divorcing after nearly three decades of marriage.
In a post on Twitter, their statement said they’d ‘raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives’, adding: “We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives.
“We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”
Gates isn’t the only person to have a very expensive divorce, with Jeff and MacKenzie Bezos taking second place (Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)
Both Melinda and Bill have addressed their split, with the Microsoft founder telling The Times that the divorce was ‘tough’.
Meanwhile, Melinda told Stephen Colbert that to have a ‘trusted relationship, which is what I wanted in marriage, both partners have to be honest with one another’, adding: “And if you can’t, you can’t have intimacy and you can’t have trust. So in the end, I had to go.”
The couple’s divorce would be finalised in August, with 61-year-old Melinda receiving a final settlement of $75 billion (£55.9 billion), making the couple’s separation the most expensive divorce in modern history.
However, when you consider that current Bill’s estimated net worth is $115.1 billion (£85.8 billion) the amount percentage wise is really just comparative to any of us regular folk getting divorced.
Bill and Melinda aren’t the only high-net-worth couple to go through a costly divorce, with several tech CEOs and Hollywood A-listers also having to shell out a pretty penny during the dissolution of their marriage.
This includes Jeff Bezos, who gave ex-wife MacKenzie a four per cent stake in Amazon, valued at $38 billion (£28.3 billion) and actor Mel Gibson, who paid Robyn Moore approximately $425 million (£316 million) after their 2011 divorce.
LADbible Group has contacted Gates’ representatives for comment.
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