Gates’ family ‘are furious with him’
... as chalet where divorcing Microsoft chief spent a weekend a year with his ex is revealed
BILL and Melinda Gates’ divorce was ‘not a friendly split’ and delayed by two months because of disagreements over terms, it was claimed last night.
The Microsoft founder and his estranged wife wanted to announce the split in March but took longer because matters turned acrimonious, showbusiness website TMZ alleged.
Mrs Gates and most of the family were said to be ‘furious’ at Mr Gates for things they claimed he had done.
In March, everyone apart from him took a trip to an island in the Caribbean – which Mrs Gates rented in its entirety for £95,000 a night – where they planned to hide from the media while the break-up was revealed.
Instead, Mr and Mrs Gates announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage on Monday.
The claims suggest the divorce has been a long time coming and are the first hint that the division of £93billion of shared assets had a ‘considerable amount of acrimony’, said TMZ.
Certainly the marriage was in many ways distinctive. Under an unusual arrangement that was approved by Mrs Gates, 56, Mr Gates, 65, was allowed to spend one weekend a year with his ex-girlfriend Ann Winblad, now 70, at her beach property.
In an interview with TIME magazine in 1997 Mr Gates said that they would play ‘putt-putt while discussing biotechnology’ during their time together.
Miss Winblad, a software entrepreneur and venture capitalist, still owns the property in the Outer Banks, North Carolina, and it is marketed as a ‘royal retreat for beach lovers’. It spans 1,440 square feet and has three floors with a private walkway that leads to a private gazebo and the beach.
In court papers filed in Washington state, the Gates said their marriage was ‘irretrievably broken’. They did not sign a prenuptial agreement but did agree to a ‘separation contract’.
An announcement in March was planned to coincide with Mrs Gates renting the whole of Calivigny Island in Grenada, where she would hide out from the media with their children, Jennifer, 25, Rory, 21, and Phoebe, 18.
The island is owned by French millionaire Georges Cohen, who bought it for his wife Martine in 2000. It has 25 suites, including a main house called The Overhang with enough room for 18 guests and three beach cottages. There are Michelin star chefs, private trainers, yoga teachers, yachts and water sports.
Justin Bieber rented it for his 21st birthday in 2015 and the Kardashians have also visited.
When the divorce deal was not finalised, Mrs Gates went on the trip anyway. According to TMZ, ‘virtually everyone in the family took Melinda’s side’ and they were ‘very angry’ at Mr Gates for unspecified things he supposedly did. It is not known whether the family are still on the island.
On Monday, Mr Gates transferred stock worth nearly $2.4billion (£1.7billion) as they began dividing up assets. The transfers make Mrs Gates one of the biggest shareholders in Mexican companies, bottler Coca-Cola Femsa SAB and Grupo Televisa SA, a cable company and broadcaster.
Mr Gates also transferred holdings in Canadian National Railway and AutoNation Inc, the biggest owner of car dealerships in the US. No one from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the couple’s philanthropic venture, was available for comment.