Melinda Gates Could Be Using the Divorce to Give Her Kids a Bigger Inheritance Than Bill Gates Planned
Think of the children! This may be the angle that Melinda Gates is taking in her pending divorce from estranged husband Bill Gates, two high-profile attorneys tell Page Six after reviewing the billionaire philanthropist’s divorce filing and noting that prominent trust and estate lawyers are named in the case, an unusual situation for a divorce.
While Bill and Melinda’s separation had initially seemed amicable with the former couple releasing a calm statement about their shared intent to continue philanthropic ventures together, reports since alleging a long relationship between Bill Gates and late pedophile-slash-billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein as well as an affair with a former Microsoft employee have firmly been moving the needle of public opinion into Melinda’s side in recent weeks. Another potential area of disagreement between the couple?
The Gates’ long-public decision to leave their children Rory, Phoebe, and Jennifer Gates only $10 million each, despite Bill Gates’ estimated $124 billion fortune. Given who Melinda has tapped as her legal representation, these Page Six sources say there’s a chance Melinda is looking into changing that.
Harriet Newman Cohen and Martha Cohen Stine, divorce attorneys whose former clients include Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the ex-wives of Harvey and Bob Weinstein, told Page Six that the inclusion of trust and estate lawyers as Melinda’s representatives suggested she might be looking to modify previous agreements of how much funding they wanted to leave their three children.