Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has transferred nearly $8 billion to his former wife, Melinda French Gates, as part of their divorce settlement, according to newly released tax filings.
The $7.88 billion transfer, first reported by The New York Times DealBook, appeared as a 2024 donation to Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation. The contribution has been described as one of the largest charitable transfers ever publicly disclosed.
Melinda French Gates announced in May 2024 that she was stepping down as co-chair of the Gates Foundation, following the couple’s divorce in 2021. Under the terms of the settlement, she was entitled to $12.5 billion to pursue independent philanthropic initiatives focused on women and families.
Pivotal Philanthropies, founded in 2022, has already distributed over $540 million in grants between 2022 and 2024. Reports indicate that about $4.6 billion of the settlement has yet to appear in public tax records and may surface in 2025 filings, or could have been transferred privately to Pivotal Ventures, which does not publish tax returns.
Pivotal has since confirmed that the entire $12.5 billion settlement has now been completed.
Bill and Melinda French Gates ended their 27-year marriage in May 2021. Married in 1994, they share three children and built one of the most influential philanthropic partnerships in modern history.
Currently, Bill Gates ranks 13th on the Forbes Billionaires List with an estimated net worth of $108 billion, while Melinda French Gates ranks 77th, with a net worth of $29.4 billion.
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