One of the most powerful couples in the world, Bill and Melinda Gates shocked people around the world when they announced their divorce after 27 years together. The two met at Microsoft where Melinda was working as a marketing manager. The geeky romance took in the year 1987 and by 1994 they were married.
Since their marriage, the two have created one of the most significant philanthropical organizations in the world involving billions of dollars. Unsurprisingly, they now have to wade paperwork of dividing their $150 billion dollar fortune. This is no easy task and though details are private, a lot is at stake, apparently even the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, their famous non-profit.
$19.7 million
Monty Python Star John Cleese and his wife Alyce Faye ended their marriage in 2009. Apparently, Cleese’s wife benefited so much from the divorce settlement that she became richer than him.
He reportedly paid $19.7 million, as well as $13 million in assets which included a New York apartment, a home in London, and a beach house in Santa Barbara.
$14 million
Lance Armstrong and Kristin Richard fell for one another in 1997 when he was facing testicular cancer. She quit her job in order to move with him to France and Armstrong won the Tour de France five times during their marriage. Their marriage ended in 2003.
Richard commented in an interview, “Before I got divorced, I was personally unfamiliar with trial, or at least trial of serious, heart-wrenching proportions. I figured that life went smoothly if you tried hard, and if you messed up, or things weren't working out, you just tried harder.”
$3 million (+)
We thought Kim and Kanye would make it to the end, but sadly, their love wasn’t meant to last. Kim filed for divorce after seven years of marriage and four children.
While the couple has a combined net worth of $2.1 billion, a prenuptial agreement protected most of their individual assets. What's more, the couple waived spousal support. West is ordered to pay $200 000 in child support every month, and on top of that, the couple will share their children's tuition and children's security costs 50/50. As for their properties, they're split in accordance with their prenup.
Approximately $800 million
One of the most iconic hip-hop artists of all time, Dr. Dre, divorced his wife Nicole Young after twenty-four years of marriage. While the numbers are not finalized, Dr. Dre’s millions are up for grabs.
The pair did opt to have a prenup agreed to before getting married, but it still could get costly for the hip-hop mogul. He is estimated to be worth 800 million dollars, and you can bet if Nicole has her way he could be losing up to half of that.