Bill Gates has transferred $850 million more in stock to his estranged wife, Melinda, amid their split after 27 years of marriage.
The Microsoft co-founder transferred 2.25 million shares of the equipment manufacturer, Deere, to Melinda through his investment firm on Thursday, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Cascade Investment, a holding company that Gates formed to manage much of his financial assets, disclosed the transferred shares, which were about 7% of his stake in the manufacturer, on Friday night, the newspaper reported.
The move brought the total value of publicly disclosed transfers to his wife to more than $3 billion since the couple filed for divorce on May 3.
The transferred shares come just days after Gates fessed up to having an affair with a Microsoft employee.
Microsoft hired an outside law firm to investigate a relationship between Gates and a company engineer, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The woman penned a letter about her relationship over the years with Gates, the newspaper reported. She demanded changes to her job and also asked that Melinda read her letter.
The company’s board became aware of the letter in 2019 and brought in a law firm to investigate before Gates stepped down to focus on his philanthropy.
“Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000,” a Microsoft spokesman said.
A Gates spokeswoman also acknowledged the relationship, “There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably.”
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