After 27 years of marriage, Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates announced their separation on May 3. They said they have given it “a great deal of thought” and will continue to work together through their Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Bill gates, the third richest man in the world, joined the other billionaire couples who ended their marriage. With an estimated $130 billion in assets, this divorce is considered to be among the costliest divorces ever. Although, the terms of their separation haven’t been disclosed yet.  

Also Read | What is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?

As Bill and Melinda add their name to the costliest divorce set, let’s have a look at the most expensive divorces ever:

Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott

Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and his his wife MacKenzie Scott announced their split in July 2019, after 25 years of marriage. Till today, this split is considered to be the costliest divorce ever as Jeff Bezos has to part with $36 billion of wealth, which made MacKenzie the third-richest woman in the world. She married a Seattle science teacher in March this year.

Jocelyn and Alec Wildenstein

Jocelyn Wildenstein, known for her plastic surgery moniker “Catwoman” divorced her billionaire art dealer husband, Alec Wildenstein after finding he was cheating on her. The split was ugly and was the priciest divorce settlement in the 90s. Jocelyn got $2.5 billion in the settlement, which was a huge amount at that time.

Elon and Justine Musk

The billionaire Tesla CEO Elon musk was married to his first wife for eight years until 2008 and had six children. The split cost him $170,000 on average monthly legal bills and also he gave his Bel Air home. Elon Musk divorced his second wife actress Talulah Riley twice, first they split in 2012, where she walked away with $4.2 million. A year after the duo reconciled and married again. According to The New York Post, Musk filed for a divorce in 2015 and they agreed to a $16 million settlement.

Bernie and Slavica Ecclestone

In 2009, the former Formula 1 Boss divorced his Croatian Armani model after 24 years of marriage. However, no details of their settlement were made public but Bernie Ecclestone is believed to have paid around $1.2 billion to his wife The Sun reported.

Tiger Woods and Elin Nordegren

The golf legend Tiger Woods’s marriage broke with Elin after the reports of him having an affair with a nightclub manager surfaced. Elin Nordegren divorced woods a year later and got $110 million in the settlement.