Days after finalising their divorce following 27 years of marriage, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates resumed the process of splitting up their public assets.
On Thursday, Mr Gates’s Cascade Investment conveyed 3.3 million shares of AutoNation, now worth about $387 million, to Ms French Gates, as well as 2.8 million shares of Deere & Co. valued at about $1 billion and 9.5 million shares of Canadian National Railway totalling in excess of $1bn, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The latest shifts come after Mr Gates transferred more than $3bn worth of shares, including stakes in the same three companies, in the weeks following their May 3 divorce announcement. It’s enough to make her one of the world’s richest people - the stocks alone are now worth more than $5.7bn, but it may only be part of the picture.
The specific details of how the ex-couple is splitting their enormous fortune reside in the separation contract that a judge in Washington State approved earlier this week.
The agreement isn’t public, so it’s not known how they’re divvying things up or the amount of other private assets French Gates may have received. Gates is worth about $150bn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
A spokeswoman for French Gates and a Cascade representative didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Cascade, which is run by money manager Michael Larson, still owns significant stakes in AutoNation, Deere and Canadian National - 17 per cent, 8.5 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively, according to Friday’s filings. Cascade also holds stakes in several other public companies that haven’t transferred shares to French Gates.
This week Mr Gates spoke publicly about the divorce and his association with late paedophile con man Jeffrey Epstein, whose meetings with Mr Gates may have caused strife in the latter’s marriage, according to the New York Times.
“I had several dinners with him hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts that he had might emerge, and when it looked like it wasn’t a real thing that relationship ended,” Mr Gates told CNN’s Anderson Cooper in an interview. “It was a huge mistake to spend time with him, to give him the credibility of being there.”
Mr Gates also said that he is still in contact with French Gates because they will continue to work together at their $65bn foundation. Last month, the foundation said Ms French Gates might step down from her roles there if the ex-couple can no longer work together. Mr Gates said he hopes that doesn’t happen.
“Melinda has incredible strengths that she brings,” Mr Gates said.
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Will the pound fall to parity with the dollar?
The idea of pound parity now seems less far-fetched as the risk grows that Britain may split away from the European Union without a deal.
Rupert Harrison, a fund manager at BlackRock, sees the risk of it falling to trade level with the dollar on a no-deal Brexit. The view echoes Morgan Stanley’s recent forecast that the currency can plunge toward $1 (Dh3.67) on such an outcome. That isn’t the majority view yet – a Bloomberg survey this month estimated the pound will slide to $1.10 should the UK exit the bloc without an agreement.
New Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly said that Britain will leave the EU on the October 31 deadline with or without an agreement, fuelling concern the nation is headed for a disorderly departure and fanning pessimism toward the pound. Sterling has fallen more than 7 per cent in the past three months, the worst performance among major developed-market currencies.
“The pound is at a much lower level now but I still think a no-deal exit would lead to significant volatility and we could be testing parity on a really bad outcome,” said Mr Harrison, who manages more than $10 billion in assets at BlackRock. “We will see this game of chicken continue through August and that’s likely negative for sterling,” he said about the deadlocked Brexit talks.
The pound fell 0.8 per cent to $1.2033 on Friday, its weakest closing level since the 1980s, after a report on the second quarter showed the UK economy shrank for the first time in six years. The data means it is likely the Bank of England will cut interest rates, according to Mizuho Bank.
The BOE said in November that the currency could fall even below $1 in an analysis on possible worst-case Brexit scenarios. Options-based calculations showed around a 6.4 per cent chance of pound-dollar parity in the next one year, markedly higher than 0.2 per cent in early March when prospects of a no-deal outcome were seemingly off the table.
Bloomberg
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Tailors and retailers miss out on back-to-school rush
Tailors and retailers across the city said it was an ominous start to what is usually a busy season for sales.
With many parents opting to continue home learning for their children, the usual rush to buy school uniforms was muted this year.
“So far we have taken about 70 to 80 orders for items like shirts and trousers,” said Vikram Attrai, manager at Stallion Bespoke Tailors in Dubai.
“Last year in the same period we had about 200 orders and lots of demand.
“We custom fit uniform pieces and use materials such as cotton, wool and cashmere.
“Depending on size, a white shirt with logo is priced at about Dh100 to Dh150 and shorts, trousers, skirts and dresses cost between Dh150 to Dh250 a piece.”
A spokesman for Threads, a uniform shop based in Times Square Centre Dubai, said customer footfall had slowed down dramatically over the past few months.
“Now parents have the option to keep children doing online learning they don’t need uniforms so it has quietened down.”
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