Microsoft founder Bill Gates and wife Melinda split. Video / NZ herald
Bill Gates transferred $2.5 billion of stocks to his wife Melinda on the day she filed for divorce.
According to securities filings, a holding company owned by Gates transferred shares in Canadian National Railway and AutoNation on Tuesday, the same day the couple announced they "no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives".
The 14 million shares in Canadian National Railway were worth more than $2 billion when they were transferred and the shares in AutoNation, a Florida-based car sales company, were worth over $415 million.
The transfer represents just a fraction of the couple's estimated $176 billion fortune and is the first sign on how the couple, who did not sign a pre-nuptial agreement, plan to divvy up their considerable assets.
The marriage is over, but the divorce is just beginning. Photo / Getty Images
Divorce papers filed by Melinda Gates show that she did not ask for spousal support and the divorce seems unlikely to go to trial, due to a "separation contract" ironed out by the former couple.
While their joint statement on Twitter sounded harmonious, the divorce documents reveal their marriage is "irreversibly broken".
"This marriage is irretrievably broken. We ask the court to dissolve our marriage and find that our marital community ended on the date stated in our separation contract," the court documents read.
News of the stock transfer is the latest update in the billionaire philanthropists' divorce, which has gripped the globe.
Melinda signed off on the unusual arrangement, even going away with pair to spend time at secluded lodges - to do jigsaws.
Bill Gates dated Ann Winblad (L) before he met wife Melinda (R). Photo / Getty Images
A story in Time magazine details how the Microsoft founder dated fellow tech entrepreneur Winblad for three years after they met at a tech conference. The pair began a 1980s-style virtual relationship that involved them going to the same movie at the same time in different cities and then discussing it on their proto-mobile phones.
They eventually split despite Winblad's readiness for marriage, because of Gates' devotion to his work.
But Winblad remained important to Gates - who even called his ex to ask for approval to propose to Melinda.
"When I was off on my own thinking about marrying Melinda," Gates told the magazine, "I called Ann and asked for her approval."
Winblad approved the union because, she said, Melinda had the "intellectual stamina" to keep up with her ex-beau.
The 1997 Time magazine profile spilled the beans on the former lovers' tradition, writing that the "kindred spirits" travelled extensively while they were together and held on to that one weekend after their split.
At Winblad's North Carolina beach cottage the pair would "ride dune buggies, hang-glide and walk on the beach".
"We can play putt-putt while discussing biotechnology," Gates said, with Winblad revealing: "We share our thoughts about the world and ourselves".
