The myth that “Billionaires” do not make great lovers garnered several moments when Bill Gate called time on his marriage with Melinda. The most shocking thing about their divorce is the fact that they had been married for 27 years, a time long enough for people to understand each other and grow even stronger in love to the point of compromise.
However, like other wealthy people that are unable to keep their marriages beyond divorce, Melinda moved from a billionaire’s wife to a billionaire after the successful dissolution of her marriage with Bill.
Even though the act of divorce has not been financially rewarding for men, this trend will likely go on and on.
Let’s take a swipe at some of the most expensive divorces of our time.
6 Women That Turned Billionaires After Divorce:
Bill Gate and Melinda French Gates $73bn
Melinda was employed as a product manager for Microsoft in 1987 and she met Bill the same year during a business meeting. They began dating afterwards and their relationship thrived until they got married in 1994.
At the time they met, Melinda claimed she found Bill methodical in all his dealings including matters of the heart. They went on to get married on the Hawaiian island of Lanai and are blessed with three children.
Melinda who is now 56, is expected to have a share of the $126.2 billion of the fourth richest man in the world. She is estimated to get about half of his wealth, which will make it the most expensive divorce of all time, also she will become a billionaire.
The divorce of the pair came as a rude shock to all of their supporters, regardless, they are now contending for the most expensive divorces of all time given the amount involved.
Jennifer Gates, a 25-year-old daughter of the couple wrote: “It’s been a challenging stretch of time for our whole family. I’m still learning how to best support my own process and emotions”.
Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott $38bn
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, met his wife in 1992 when he was working for D. E. Shaw, the pair later got married the following year. It was MacKenzie that made the first move after they met, and they got married after six months.
Bezos and MacKenzie bore four children before they decided to call time on their marriage in 2019 after 25 years.
At the time of their divorce, Jeff was valued at about $165B but she left him with 75% of their shared stock on Amazon. Her shares were worth $35b at the time of their divorce.
They never had a prenup which meant she could have claimed the most part of their 16% stake at the company.
Scott went on to get married and she recently gave out $2.7bn (£1.9bn) of her wealth, as part of keeping her promise to do a lot to charities.
Jocelyn and Alec Wildenstein $3.8bn
Jocelyn, who is known for her obsession with plastic surgery irritated Alec Wildenstein with her lifestyle and obsessions. She spent fortunes on fashion and jewellery and it started most of their quarrels in the relationship.
However, she claimed to have caught her husband cheating on her with a 19-year-old Russian model.
She walked out of the marriage a Billionaire with $2.5b in 1999 and a whopping $100 million annually running for the next 13 years. Despite the whopping amount she got as a result of her divorce, she filed for bankruptcy in 2018 because of her lavish lifestyle.
Elon and Justine Musk
Elon is now divorced twice and left his former wives with some fortunes. He met his first wife during his stint at Queen University. The pair got married in 2000 and divorced in 2008 despite having five children together.
Justine revealed that two weeks after their divorce, Elon messaged her that was getting married to a young British model, who was just in her early 20s.
Elon is the founder of Space X and Tesla, and other companies with $b net worth.
Justine gets $20,000 on a monthly basis for her clothing, shoes and other personal items. Elon left her with their Bel-Air Home and he’s also claimed that he expends $170,000 monthly as bills for their relationship.
Elon Musk and Talulah Riley
After his split from Justine, he dated Talulah for two years before tying the knot with her in 2010. However, they got divorced in 2012, leaving her with a staggering $4.2 million.
Elon remarried Talulah after a year but asked for divorce again in 2015. The second time, he paid her $16 m according to the report. His worth is currently pecked at $166B.
Rupert Murdoch and Anna Torv Mann: $1.7bn
A lot of people grudged over Bill and Melinda’s divorce because they had spent 27 years together. Media giant Rupert and his former wife Anna were married for over 30 years before their split. They have three children together and separated in 1998.
Anna was said to have received $1.7bn in shares of assets of Murdoch.
6 Women That Turned Billionaires After Divorce
