What was once described as the most expensive divorce in the world continues to reveal new layers years after it officially ended. Fresh tax filings have shown that American billionaire Bill Gates paid nearly eight billion dollars to a charity founded by his ex wife, Melinda French Gates, long after their marriage collapsed.
According to a report by The New York Times, Gates made a seven point nine billion dollar donation to Melinda’s Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation in 2024. The donation, one of the largest ever publicly recorded, was disclosed through newly released tax documents that offered rare insight into the financial terms surrounding the couple’s highly publicised split.
Bill and Melinda Gates ended their twenty seven year marriage in 2021, a separation that sent shockwaves through the business and philanthropic worlds. While the couple had long presented a united front through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the divorce later exposed deeper issues, including Gates’ relationships with other women.
Melinda officially resigned from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in May 2024. Even after stepping away, she reportedly encouraged her former husband to contribute twelve point five billion dollars toward a new charitable foundation she planned to establish. A representative for Pivotal Philanthropies confirmed that the agreement has now been fulfilled, with the nearly eight billion dollar payment forming part of that commitment.
Melinda launched Pivotal Philanthropies in 2022, just a year after the divorce was finalised. By the end of 2023, the foundation reportedly held six hundred and four million dollars in assets, focusing on initiatives that support women, families, and social progress.
The divorce settlement itself remains historic. Following the split, Melinda is said to have received assets valued at approximately seventy six billion dollars, making it the most expensive divorce settlement ever recorded.
In the months that followed the separation, uncomfortable revelations about Bill Gates began to surface. Details emerged about an affair with a Microsoft employee, which reportedly began in 2000. In 2019, the woman involved wrote to Microsoft’s board, outlining the relationship and insisting that Melinda be made aware of it.
Microsoft’s board investigated the claims and later described the relationship as inappropriate. Gates resigned from the company’s board in March 2020 while the investigation was still ongoing, stepping down before any formal conclusion was reached.
Further reports later alleged that Gates had a pattern of making advances toward staff members, both at Microsoft and at the philanthropic foundation he co founded with his wife. These claims further damaged his carefully built public image.
Another controversy followed with reports linking Gates to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Investigations revealed that Gates had sought marriage advice from Epstein and maintained a close relationship with him after first meeting in 2011. The two reportedly spent time together on multiple occasions, including flights aboard Epstein’s private jet and late night meetings at his Manhattan residence.
Epstein’s connections to Gates became public knowledge in 2019, months after Epstein died in a Manhattan jail cell while awaiting trial on charges related to child sex trafficking.
Years after the divorce, the latest eight billion dollar payment underscores how deeply intertwined Bill and Melinda Gates’ lives and finances remain. While their marriage may be over, its consequences continue to ripple through the worlds of wealth, power, and philanthropy.
