How Melinda Gates will spend her divorce payout after high profile split

Bill Gates’ divorce is set to result in a massive payout and there’s already speculation about how Melinda will spend her share.

Bill Gates’ high profile divorce is set to result in a massive payout for his wife, with speculation already swirling about how Melinda will spend her share of the $164 billion (AUD) fortune.

Ms Gates, 56, is a well known philanthropist and has been involved in multiple initiatives and projects over the years, which may give an insight into where she will focus her money.

The couple announced last week that they were divorcing after 27 years of marriage, revealing in a joint statement that they had been battling to save their relationship for some time.

“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” they said.

“Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.

“We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.”

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Bill and Melinda Gates announced that they will divorcing after 27 years of marriage. Picture: Ludovic Marin/AFP

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With decades of philanthropic experience, it is not surprising that many believe Ms Gates will continue to focus on her philanthropic ventures.

“I have no doubt in her ability to have impact,” Alexsis de Raadt St. James, founder and managing partner of Merian Ventures, told CNN Business.

“It may be singularly the most important thing to follow in philanthropy because her impact is so disproportionately powerful.”

Her past areas of involvement have provided insight into what projects Ms Gates may choose to put her money towards.

Recently, the 56-year-old has been vocal about the importance of vaccine and vaccine access, particularly throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking with CNN in December, she stressed the importance of everyone having equal access to a coronavirus vaccine.

“If we only get it to the high-income countries, this disease is going to bounce around. We’re going to see twice as many deaths. And our recovery of our economies is going to be much slower than if we get the vaccine out to everybody,” she said.

Throughout the pandemic, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed about $1.75 billion helping global recovery.

Another avenue Ms Gates has shown continual support for is empowering women and young girls.

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There has been speculation about how Melinda Gates will chose to spend her share of the multi-billion dollar fortune. Picture: Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP

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In 2015 she started her own investment and incubation company Pivotal Ventures, which aims to advance social progress in the US and better the lives of women and families as a result.

The company is also focused on getting more women working in key sectors that are often dominated by men and encouraging them to run for government positions.

Her support for women has also been prominent throughout the pandemic, which disproportionately impacted women.

Ms Gates used her position to encourage politicians to consider a long-term solution to ensure women are better protected should a similar crisis occur in the future.

Through her company Pivotal Ventures, Ms Gates has also helped launched multiple mental health initiatives.

In April she helped launch national campaign Sound It Out that promotes mental health awareness for schoolchildren.

In October 2020, she launched The Upswing Fund for Adolescent Mental Health, which supports organisation that provide support for mental health in young people.

Ms Gates has spearheaded a range of other initiatives, such as pushing for a federal paid leave policy for those working in the US and lifting people out of poverty.

How much money is at stake?

Mr Gates’ net worth is listed by Forbes as $163.7 billion (AUD), making him the world’s fourth richest man behind Jeff Bezos ($253 billion), Bernard Arnault ($236 billion) and Elon Musk ($215 billion).

The Gates’ divorce comes two years after another high profile billionaire, Jeff Bezos, finalised his split from his wife of 25 years, MacKenzie Scott.

That divorce ended in a massive settlement. Mr Bezos gave Ms Scott a quarter of their joint stocks in Amazon, worth about $US32 billion at the time, with the Gates’ settlement tipped to top that.

The same day the couple announced their divorce, Mr Gates’ investment firm, Cascade Investment, transferred $US1.8 billion ($A2.3 billion) in stock to his wife.

A securities filing revealed more than 14 million shares of Canadian National Railway was transferred to Ms Gates last week.

On the same day, the firm transferred more than 2.9 million shares of AutoNation to Ms Gates, a separate filing showed.

The transfers are among the first indications of how one of the world’s wealthiest couples will go about divvying up their assets as they separate.

The couple’s divorce petition, which was filed on Monday in King County Superior Court in Washington state, indicated that they don’t have a prenuptial agreement in place to distribute their assets.

Instead, the two have signed a separation contract for dividing their property and possessions, but the terms of that agreement have not been publicly disclosed in court documents.