Melinda Gates started meeting with divorce lawyers almost two years ago.

Melinda Gates held the first conversations with divorce attorneys in October 2019, around the same time Bill Gates’ ties to pedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein, a friendship that haunted her, became public. As revealed The Wall Street Journal, Melinda consulted lawyers about two years before formally filing for divorce from the mogul. By then, he had already declared that his marriage was “irretrievably broken.”

US media claim that the 56-year-old philanthropist has been working with several law firms since that first meeting, looking for the best way to dissolve the marriage of more than two decades and a multi-million dollar fortune at stake.

Last Monday, Bill Gates announced on social media the end of his marriage to Melinda Gates, after being together for 27 years. The news came as a big surprise, because to public opinion they came out as a solid couple: charity events here and there, trips around the world together. However, the relationship of powerful philanthropists began to fall apart years ago, in part because of some of the friendships the Microsoft founder had that made his then-wife uncomfortable: especially his relationship. with Epstein.

Melinda first met the financier in New York, her husband introduced them. From the first meeting, she felt rejected by the child molester tycoon, who committed suicide in prison on August 10, 2019. And she was angry with her husband, she disapproved of this friendship.

According to documents reviewed by the Newspaper, Melinda Gates and her legal advisers had multiple calls in October 2019 when the New York Times reported that the Microsoft founder had met with Epstein on several occasions.

Although he repeatedly denied it, Bill Gates maintained a close relationship with Epstein. According to NOW the tycoons have had numerous encounters since 2011. Boris Nikolic, the tycoon’s advisor, was involved in the execution of the New York financier’s will. And Melanie Walker, who worked at the Gates Foundation, advised Epstein on science.

In 2011, Gates attended a party at Epstein’s Manhattan mansion, and in 2013, the Microsoft founder flew the New York private plane mogul from New Jersey to Palm Beach, Florida. That same year, the two reportedly met again in New York.

“I met him. I had no business relationship or friendship with him,” Gates said in September 2019.

A source close to the Gates confirmed that Melinda was furious with the relationship. And is that besides the fact that some of his sexual predator stories were already public, Epstein was a person who in public behaved disagreeably, had bad manners and that’s why a lot of people didn’t want to be next to his side, As reported The daily beast.

As WSJ adds, at the beginning of 2020, they no longer worked as a couple. In fact, they did not attend the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, an annual gathering of business and world leaders that the powerful couple have always attended.

A few months later, on March 13, Gates said he was stepping down from the boards of Microsoft Corp and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Thus, the Microsoft co-founder said he planned to focus more on his philanthropic efforts. , because the truth is that by then the Gates were already in talks to divide their huge estate. In fact, in strict secrecy, the legal teams from both sides were talking privately with a mediator to resolve the separation.

Melinda’s legal team already included New York City divorce attorney Robert Stephan Cohen, the same who represented Michael Bloomberg, Henry Kravis and Ivana Trump in their divorces. And Bill Gates also had star lawyers, like Ronald Olson, partner at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP who represented Mark Zuckerberg, among others.

The formal May 3 divorce petition says the couple agreed to a separation contract to share their assets, a fortune estimated at $ 130 billion. for Forbes. Its assets include a $ 131 million resort town in Washington state called Xanadu 2.0, a rare Leonardo da Vinci laptop, and investments in Microsoft and Four Seasons hotels.

Last week, Cascade Investment, the holding company created by Bill Gates, transferred the shares of two of Mexico’s largest companies to Melinda French Gates, bringing the total amount she received in recent days to more than $ 2 billion. dollars.

Cascade transferred more than $ 500 million in shares of Coca-Cola Femsa and Grupo Televisa to its control, according to regulatory documents dated May 3, the same day the Gates announced the end of their 27-year marriage. Cascade this week transferred about $ 1.8 billion in shares of Canadian National Railway Company and AutoNation Incorporated to French Gates, Bloomberg reported.

Melinda now owns a 4.7% stake in Coca-Cola Femsa, worth $ 121 million, and a 6.7% stake in Grupo Televisa, worth $ 386 million. This places it among the largest shareholders of two of Mexico’s largest companies, Business Insider reported.

Bill Gates also transferred some of his properties in Canadian National Railways and AutoNation to his ex-wife, according to documents. Its 1.9% stake in Canada’s longest rail network was valued at $ 1.5 billion, while its 3.7% stake in the auto retailer was worth $ 307 million at Wednesday’s closing price.

Bill Gates’ greatest asset is Cascade Investment, which he created with proceeds from Microsoft stock sales and dividends. Cascade oversees a large portfolio including real estate, energy and hospitality, as well as stakes in dozens of publicly traded companies.

Bill Gates sold or donated most of his stake in Microsoft, which he led for about 34 years. He currently owns 1% of the tech company and is worth around $ 144 billion. Billionaire philanthropists have spent much of their $ 130 billion fortune on charity through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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