Bill Gates
transferred stakes in a
bottler, Mexican broadcaster and different firms value almost $2.Four billion to
Melinda Gates,
as two of the world’s richest folks started dividing their wealth after filing for divorce.
The transfers had been made on Monday, the identical day the billionaire philanthropists revealed on Twitter that they had been ending their marriage of 27 years. The inventory transfers had been disclosed in securities filings on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Ms. Gates is now one of the most important shareholders in two Mexican firms: bottler Coca-Cola Femsa SAB and Grupo Televisa SA, a cable firm and broadcaster, in accordance to disclosures filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Her 4.9% stake in Coca-Cola Femsa was value about $121 million at Wednesday’s shut, whereas her 6.7% Televisa stake was value about $386 million.
Mr. Gates additionally transferred to his spouse some of his holdings in
and
AutoNation Inc.,
the most important proprietor of U.S. automotive dealerships, in accordance to different SEC filings. The railway stake, about 1.9% of the corporate, was valued at $1.55 billion at Wednesday’s closing value; the AutoNation shares, about 3.7% of the corporate, had been value about $307 million.
The public investments are half of a fortune that’s estimated to be greater than $130 billion, in accordance to Forbes journal. The couple will probably be dividing their belongings in accordance to an settlement that they negotiated earlier than Ms. Gates filed a petition for divorce in King County, Wash., on Monday, calling her marriage to Mr. Gates “irretrievably broken.”
Mr. Gates has bought off or donated most of his stake in
Microsoft Corp.
, the software program firm he co-founded and ran for many years. He held a 1.3% stake, value about $25.Four billion at Wednesday’s shut, as of October 2019, about 5 months earlier than he stepped down from the Microsoft board. The couple have pledged to give away most of their wealth and over time have donated greater than $36 billion to their philanthropy, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Over the years, his money managers invested in dozens of firms by way of his funding agency Cascade Investment LLC, which disclosed some of this week’s transfers. Cascade continues to personal about 12.3% of the Canadian railway and 19.2% of AutoNation. It was now not listed as an proprietor within the filings for Coca-Cola Femsa or Televisa.
Securities laws require buyers to disclose important modifications in holdings in the event that they management greater than 5% of an organization’s shares. Cascade additionally has reported holding sizable stakes in different firms, together with trash haulers
Waste Management Inc.
and
Republic Services Inc.,
cable and broadband operator Liberty Global PLC, and conglomerate
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.,
amongst different firms.
A Cascade spokesman declined to remark past public disclosures, and a spokeswoman for Ms. Gates didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Despite their plans for divorce, Mr. Gates and Ms. Gates have mentioned they might proceed to work collectively at their basis, which supplies away billions yearly because it goals to sort out world causes equivalent to poverty and illness. They are co-chairs and trustees of the muse.
Write to Theo Francis at theo.francis@wsj.com and Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com
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Appeared within the May 6, 2021, print version as ‘Shares Worth $2.4 Billion Moved to Melinda Gates.’
