By Emily Glazer and Khadeeja Safdar
The split between Bill and Melinda Gates, announced last week,
has been in the works for a long time.
Ms. Gates consulted with divorce lawyers roughly two years
before she filed for divorce from Mr. Gates, saying their marriage
was "irretrievably broken," according to people familiar with the
matter and documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
The 56-year-old philanthropist has been working with lawyers at
several firms since at least 2019 to unwind the marriage of more
than 25 years, according to these people and the documents.
Last Monday, the billionaire couple announced they were ending
their marriage. In a joint statement posted on Twitter, they said,
"we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next
phase of our lives."
The couple hasn't said what prompted the split. One source of
concern for Ms. Gates was her husband's dealings with convicted sex
offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to the people and a former
employee of their charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Ms. Gates's concerns about the relationship dated as far back as
2013, the former employee said.
The couple negotiated their divorce throughout the Covid-19
pandemic, the documents show. They have three children who are all
now 18 years or older, the divorce filing shows. The youngest is a
senior in high school.
According to the documents reviewed by the Journal, Ms. Gates
and her advisers held a number of calls in October 2019 when the
New York Times reported that Mr. Gates had met with Mr. Epstein on
numerous occasions. Mr. Gates once stayed late into the night at
Mr. Epstein's Manhattan townhouse, the Times reported.
Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Mr. Gates, said in 2019 that
the software mogul and Mr. Epstein had met multiple times to
discuss philanthropy. " Bill Gates regrets ever meeting with
Epstein and recognizes it was an error in judgment to do so," Ms.
Arnold said at the time. Mr. Epstein died in jail in August 2019
awaiting trial on federal charges related to sex trafficking.
Ms. Gates, a global advocate for women and girls, had told her
husband she was uncomfortable with Mr. Epstein after the couple met
him together in 2013, the former employee of the Gates Foundation
said. Mr. Gates and some employees of the Gates Foundation
continued a relationship with Mr. Epstein despite her concerns,
this person said.
The Daily Beast earlier reported on the 2013 meeting and Ms.
Gates's concerns with Mr. Epstein.
When asked about his relationship with Mr. Epstein in a
September 2019 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Mr. Gates
said: "I met him. I didn't have any business relationship or
friendship with him."
A spokeswoman for Mr. Gates, who is 65 years old, said Friday he
stands by his 2019 statement to the Journal and declined to comment
further. A spokeswoman for Ms. Gates didn't respond to questions
about her reasons for seeking a divorce.
In early 2020, Mr. and Ms. Gates surprised many people when they
said they wouldn't attend the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, an annual gathering of business and world leaders that
the power couple had attended for years.
A few months later, on March 13, Mr. Gates said he was resigning
from the boards of Microsoft Corp. and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The
Microsoft co-founder said he planned to focus more on his
philanthropic efforts.
By that time, the Gateses were already in discussions to divide
their vast wealth, according to the people familiar with the matter
and the documents. Legal teams from both sides were privately in
discussions with a mediator to work out a separation, the documents
show.
Ms. Gates's legal team by then already included New York divorce
lawyer Robert Stephan Cohen, the documents show. Mr. Cohen has
represented Michael Bloomberg, Henry Kravis and Ivana Trump in
their divorces.
Mr. Gates also has some star lawyers, including Ronald Olson, a
partner at the firm Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP who has
represented Mark Zuckerberg, among others. Mr. Olson is a board
member at Berkshire Hathaway, where he sat alongside Mr. Gates and
Mr. Gates's close friend Warren Buffett.
The May 3 divorce filing says the couple had agreed to a
separation contract to divide their assets -- a fortune estimated
at $130 billion by Forbes. Their assets include a $131 million
lakeside compound in Washington state called Xanadu 2.0, a rare
Leonardo da Vinci notebook and investments in Microsoft and Four
Seasons Hotels.
Last week, Mr. Gates's investment firm transferred nearly $2.4
billion worth of public company shares to Ms. Gates, including
stakes in car-dealership owner AutoNation Inc., a Mexican
broadcaster and a Canadian railroad.
The Gateses have said they would give away most of their wealth
and donated more than $36 billion to the Gates Foundation over the
years. The couple said they planned to remain co-chairs at the
foundation and jointly lead it after their divorce. "We continue to
share a belief in that mission," they said in their Twitter
statement.
Ms. Gates signed her divorce petition in Bellevue, Wash., near
the family home and the foundation's headquarters, according to the
filing. Mr. Gates signed the papers from Palm Desert, Calif.
Write to Emily Glazer at emily.glazer@wsj.com and Khadeeja
Safdar at khadeeja.safdar@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 09, 2021 13:20 ET (17:20 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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