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Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates finalize their divorce

Bill Gates, Melinda Gates
Posted at 4:37 PM, Aug 03, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-03 16:37:44-04

SEATTLE (AP) — The divorce of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates has been finalized.

The Microsoft co-founder and his wife announced in May they were ending their 27-year marriage, and on Monday, a King County Superior Court judge signed the dissolution decree.

The New York Times reports the court documents didn't detail how they would divide their assets.

Bill Gates was formerly the world's richest person, and his fortune is estimated at $150 billion.

The two met after she began working at Microsoft as a product manager in 1987.

They were married in 1994 in Hawaii.

The Seattle-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the most influential private foundation in the world, with an endowment worth about $50 billion.

According to the Associated Press, the two will continue to work as co-chairs of the foundation together. Still, if they decide they can't continue to work together in two years, Melinda will resign as co-chair and trustee.

And if she does decide to resign, Gates could buy her out and the funds she received would be used to do her own philanthropic work, the AP reported.