For decades, the world looked up to Bill and Melinda Gates. The couple had a stable and seemingly happy marriage and despite their wealth, dedicated their lives to philanthropy and donating to worthy causes. Today, we’re witnessing the end of an era as the power couple have split up. How will Gates’ divorce affect philanthropy and Big Tech as a whole?

The history of the Gates’

Bill and Melinda Gates met at a Microsoft business dinner in 1987 and got married in 1994. Over the last 27 years, the couple has managed a tech empire, raised three children, and launched one of the best-known charities in the world — the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Foundation is currently worth more than $51 billion, but the future of all of the Gates’ properties is in doubt.

In 2021, the couple announced that they were filing for divorce. Initially, the pair announced that they had filed because the marriage was “irretrievably broken” according to the petition Melinda filed. She later stated that they’ve been working toward this point since 2019, and it was due in large part to Bill’s relationship with the late Jeffery Epstein. Initially, Bill denied any relationship with Epstein, but a spokesperson later clarified that he regrets ever meeting with Epstein.

Bill also spent most of 2020 at the center of untold conspiracy theories alleging his support of COVID vaccine development was a ploy to implant microchips in the population, among other idiotic claims. This, combined with the new information of his relationship, or at least interactions, with Jeffery Epstein may serve to further damage his reputation.

Watching this tech power couple fall apart is heartbreaking, but beyond the relationship, what does this divorce mean for the Gates’ philanthropic causes?

Dividing the assets

The Gates’ did not sign a prenuptial agreement when they got married in 1994, so instead, they’re using a separate contract which is common for couples of high net worth. Despite the couple’s significant assets, there probably won’t be any tabloid-worthy drama coming from their divorce. The fact that they’ve already got the contract ready and signed indicates that they’ve been working on this for months with their respective attorneys.

Many of the typical causes of divorce drama, such as child custody, don’t apply in this case. While the pair do share three children, they’re all grown and moved away from home.

Beyond the information that’s available to the public, such as the transfer of stocks, we likely won’t know much about how they’re planning to divide their assets. The only thing we know for certain right now is that they intend to continue their work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Their marriage may be over but they’ve also spent the last 25+ years as business partners and colleagues and that will likely continue for the foreseeable future.

Far-reaching effects

Outside of Microsoft, Bill Gates and his investment firm, Cascade Investment, has stakes in a handful of other companies that could be affected by these impending proceedings. Gates owns a $12 billion stake in Deere & Company and a $11.8 billion stake in Republic Services, a waste management company. You will also find stakes in companies like Ecolab and the Canadian National Railway Company in his portfolio.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also has large holdings that could be affected by the divorce proceedings, with stakes in giant companies like Apple, Amazon, and Walmart. The stock market as a whole is waiting with bated breath to see if the divorce is going to affect the stock market, though we may not see any appreciable impact until companies start reporting their gains or losses next quarter.

What does the future hold?

What does the future hold for Bill and Melinda Gates, their foundation, and the companies that they’ve worked so hard to build? Only time will tell but for the moment it seems like everything is continuing as usual. The fracturing of a tech dynasty may have some far-reaching consequences that we haven’t seen yet, but what we won’t see is drama or people fighting over money and assets. This is an amicable split and we hope that the lack of drama means that it won’t have a negative impact on philanthropy and Big Tech moving forward.