BILL Gates retained number four position in Bloomberg Billionaire Index list on Tuesday after his total net worth grew by $1 billion, barely one day after he and his wife of 27 years, Melinda, announced they were ending their marriage.
Reports emerged on Monday that he had been delisted following the announcement of his divorce, but The ICIR investigation on Tuesday revealed that Gates occupied the fourth position on the list, as he had done on Sunday, May 2, but with a total net worth of $146 billion against his $145 billion estimated worth a day before the announcement.
In a joint statement published simultaneously via their personal Twitter accounts on Monday, the pair said they reached the decision to end their marriage after a great deal of thought and a lot of work on their relationship.
“We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life,” said Gates.
Bill Gates and his wife Melinda did not sign a prenuptial agreement to divide their fortune, which includes properties in five states, a private jet, an art collection and a fleet of luxury cars. In the divorce papers filed by Melinda in Washington and obtained by the Daily Mail, Melinda described her marriage as irretrievably broken and had requested a trial date in April 2022.
The couple co-chair the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation established in 2000 with an estimated $51 billion assets, according to the Consumer News and Business Channel.
The foundation works all over the world to enable people lead healthy and productive lives. In Africa, they have presence in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
Through the support of the foundation, Nigeria has made significant progress in strengthening primary health care and public health systems, as well as addressing a range of health issues such as malnutrition, family planning and the recent eradication of wild polio from the country.
The statement by the Gates have allayed fears about what would become of their numerous intervention programmes across the world, saying they continue to share a belief in the mission of the foundation and would carry on with work together.
The foundation also released a statement saying that the Gates would remain co-chairs and trustees and that no changes were expected at the organisation.
“They will continue to work together to shape and approve foundation strategies, advocate for the foundation’s issues and set the organization’s overall direction,” the statement said.
Bill is the world’s fourth-richest person, according to Forbes. His wife Melinda has a net worth of $70 billion according to a celebrity net worth website. Together, they have three children – Phoebe Adele, Rory John and Jennifer Katharine.
In 2002, together Melinda and Bill received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged. In 2005, Melinda and her husband were named Time’s People of the Year. They received the Spanish Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on May 4, 2006 in recognition of their charitable giving.
Bill and Melinda jointly received Indian’s third-highest civilian honor, Padma Bhushan, in 2015. President Barack Obama in 2016 awarded the Gates with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their philanthropic efforts. They were awarded at a ceremony in Paris with France’s highest national award, the Legion of Honour in 2017.
