Bill and Melinda Gates separate: how to negotiate the divorces of great fortunes

The announcement had the effect of a media bombshell.

After 27 years of marriage, billionaire Bill Gates, the world's richest ex-man, and his wife Melinda Gates announced their divorce on Monday evening.

"After careful consideration and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," tweeted in a joint statement the two Americans, who reside in Washington state.

Despite the official filing of their divorce file, the financial details of their separation obviously remain secret to this day. According to Reuters and the TMZ site, the couple, whose fortune is estimated at 130 billion dollars (100 million euros), demand the sharing of common assets. Under Washington State law, property acquired during marriage could be distributed equally between the two spouses.

This diet was also chosen by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie during their divorce in 2019, reputed to be "the most expensive in history".

Considered the richest man in the world with a fortune of around $ 137 billion, the boss of the e-commerce giant had not signed a marriage contract with his wife before their wedding.

After several months of discreet negotiations, his ex-wife had finally obtained 19.7 million Amazon shares, representing more than $ 60 billion, or 4% of the shares of the American company.

Read alsoAmazon: Jeff Bezos, the visionary turned emperor

“Tailor-made contracts”, a less taboo culture…

Curious coincidence, just like Jeff Bezos, the Gates couple had not signed any "prenup", in other words marriage contract, which is rarely the case across the Atlantic when such a fortune is at stake. The spouses may however agree that some goods are separate assets, that is, they belong to one of them. From a legal point of view, personal inheritances can, for example, fall into this category. Especially since lawyers can adjust this distribution "according to what is fair and equitable", assures lawyer Janet George, of the firm McKinley Irvin, quoted by Bloomberg. "In Anglo-Saxon countries, the idea of ​​equitable sharing is very entrenched", confirms Elodie Mulon, lawyer in property and extra-patrimonial law.

Another notable difference: the United States would have "greater contractual freedom during a divorce," adds Anne Marion De Cayeux, lawyer at the Paris bar, specialist in family law. “Marriage contracts are made to measure and the spouses will be able to determine in advance a certain number of clauses, sometimes with serious consequences. We can thus decide what will touch the other in case of infidelity for example. It is a freedom that cannot be found in France, ”explains the specialist.

Despite a culture "less taboo" on money in the couple in the United States, the reverse of these negotiations, often bitter, obviously remains confidential.

"When such a heritage is at stake, the terms of the separation cannot be decided in a few hours," underlines Élodie Mulon.

“Advisors, tax lawyers, real estate experts, notaries intervene to provide their expertise.

In the case of the Gates and their heritage, the negotiations must have taken several months, because the future of their company is at stake ”.

A "managerial" approach and communication

And if marriage contracts are established in a way "more uninhibited" than in France, they do not always prevent tearing, once the procedure has started. Some particularly stormy divorces testify to this, such as the one experienced by the former Hollywood couple Brad Pitt-Angelina Jolie. Separated since 2016, the two actors would have respectively spent one million dollars (or 85,000 euros) in legal costs, according to the Daily Mail. The procedure is "almost worse when people have money because they will continue to fight indefinitely", stressed to the American newspaper, Kelly Chang Rickert, lawyer specializing in divorce law.

To avoid years of painful procedures, some families prefer to opt for another solution, which also exists in France: that of arbitration. “This is an alternative dispute resolution method to the courts. In this case, we will have recourse to several judges, with a very technical profile, who will settle a dispute. It is a form of private justice reserved for very large fortunes, ”adds Anne-Marion de Cayeux. A procedure that the Gates hope to avoid by continuing their professional activities together.

“The slightest flaw in the discourse can have negative effects on their foundation and more distantly on Microsoft. No one wants the newspaper unboxing. They manage their divorce like business owners, comments Emlyn Korengold, co-CEO of Edelman France, an American public relations consultancy. It is a managerial approach and communication ”. In the United States, the notion of "power couple" has gained importance over the past thirty years, especially in the spheres of power. The objective of the Gates spouses is above all to perpetuate this image - despite a divorce - so as not to destroy their common work.