The divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates is set to mint another woman billionaire. Yesterday, Nairametrics reported on the first set of transactions made by Bill Gates to his ex-wife, Melinda.
She was transferred securities worth over $1 billion, already making her a billionaire. With more transfers set to come, we want to look at 5 other women who became billionaires after divorcing their husbands.
5 . Sue Ann Arnall ($1 billion
Sue Ann Arnall was the wife of oil baron and CEO of Continental Resources, Mr Harold Hamm. The 26-year-old marriage ended in 2015 with a handwritten check of a whopping $974 million to Sue Ann, which she initially rejected on the basis that it was too small. After a series of back and forth in court, however, she finally accepted the cheque.
Before the cheque, Harold Hamm had initially paid her over $20 million, driving the total settlement figure over a billion dollars.
Harold Hamm is currently the 247th richest man in the world with a net worth of $8.6 billion.
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4. Sue Gross ( $1.3 billion )
The ex-wife of Bill Gross, the billionaire founder of the investment management firm, PIMCO, walked away from her 32-year-old marriage to the business mogul with a handsome $1.3 billion dollars. She started her own charity afterwards.
Bill Gross is currently worth $1.5 billion according to Forbes. He founded PIMCO in 1971 and it became one of the most successful investment management firms in America.
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3. Elaine Wynn ( $2 billion )
Elaine Wynn is the ex-wife of Steve Wynn and she is a Co-Founder of the successful casino company, Wynn Resorts. After the couple divorced in 2012, she was transferred 11 million shares from the company which was valued at $795 million at the time.
Her ex-husband sold a substantial amount of shares later that year, which she also got a stake in. Today, her total shares from the Wyatt Resorts are worth over $2.3 billion according to Forbes.
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2. Melinda Gates ($1.8 billion and counting)
Melinda Gates is the latest billionaire divorcee on the block and she is already worth $1.8 billion after the first transfer of wealth. Her ex-husband, Bill Gates is the 4th richest man in the world. She will be worth over $60 billion if Bill Gates’ fortune is split evenly with her, although that is very unlikely.
1. Mackenzie Scott ($57.7 billion)
The ex-wife of the richest man in the world tops the list with a staggering $57.7 billion net worth. She met her ex-husband, Jeff Bezos when they both worked at a hedge fund in New York and she helped set up Amazon.
After her divorce from Bezos in 2019, she received 4% of Amazon shares which was valued at $35 billion then. Amazon stocks have witnessed a near 75% increase since then. She is currently worth $57.7 billion according to Forbes.
What you should know
Melinda Gates may top the list after the complete transfer of wealth by her ex-husband, Bill Gates.
So…these women didn’t “become billionaires” after divorcing their husbands or because they divorced their husbands.
They already *were* billionaires before the divorce and were allowed to keep some of the assets that they built up together within their marriage / legal partnership.
This is true for all the women…but especially true of the ones who co-founded companies with their husbands. Mackenzie Scott, in particular, was not only a material participant in the founding of Amazon…she also provided the company with free labor for years before it became profitable and even invested her own pre-marital money in the early stages of the company (she was a Wall Street Executive before marriage, for cripes sake…not some SAHM!)
She is wealthy…a billionaire…because she *invested in* and co-built Amazon…not because she divorced a billionaire.
Please, please change your toxic language around this topic and give women their proper credit.
Arnall (formerly Sue Ann Hamm) was also co-owner and co-investor in the first, risky oil venture…which was transfered at below market value ($4.5M) to Continental Resources. That oil stake that she funded appreciated in value to over $900M during the course of their marriage…enabling all subsequent purchases. She also worked as an attorney for the firm the entire time they were married, helping ensure its success. She fully earned her $$ and probably deserved more of their $18B plus marital assets.
Elaine Wynn co-founded Wynn Resorts with her ex husband and controlled 10% of their stock. She made her money by selling her shares…not by getting a divorce.
Melinda Gates married Bill when he had nothing, helped build their company and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation…and only divorced due to cheating.
In all of these women’s cases…they didn’t marry for money (married before the money was made) and divorced for legit reasons after 25, 27…32 years of building a life and a marriage together.
Hardly a “divorce ponzi scheme” as you claim.