Google co-founder Sergey Brin files for divorce; a look at other billionaires who split
Sergey Brin, the world’s sixth-richest person, has filed for divorce from Nicole Shanahan, citing “irreconcilable differences”. With a staggering amount of wealth involved, billionaire divorces get a lot of news time
Google co-founder Sergey Brin filed for a divorce from his wife Nicole Shanahan, the attorney and entrepreneur he married in 2018. Brin, the world’s sixth-richest person according to Bloomberg, filed for divorce for dissolution of his marriage with Shanahan, citing “irreconcilable differences”. Court filings show that the couple have been separated since December 2021. The Google co-founder is seeking joint custody of their two-year-old daughter. Here’s a quick list of other billionaire divorces in recent decades (Image: Reuters):
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Bill and Melinda Gates | The billionaire couple announced on May 3 that they were getting divorced. However, the couple said they would continue to work together at their Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic organisations in the world. Microsoft co-founder Bill and Melinda had said in identical tweets that they had made the decision to end their marriage of 27 years. Image: AP)
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Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott | Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Bezos finalised their divorce in 2019. In March, MacKenzie Scott remarried Seattle science teacher Dan Jewett and now focuses on her own philanthropic initiatives. She had received a 4 percent stake in Amazon, worth more than $36 billion, in a divorce settlement. (Image: Reuters)
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Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki | In 2015, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and 23andMe founder Anne Wojcicki divorced after eight years of marriage. The pair had split in 2013, and reached a settlement for an undisclosed amount of money, according to a Business Insider report. (Image: Reuters)
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Steve and Elaine Wynn | In 2010, Steve and Elaine Wynn, the co-founders of Wynn Resorts, divorced for a second time. According to the settlement, Elaine received 11 million shares of the casino giant worth an estimated $795 million at that time. While Steve stepped down as CEO and chairman in February 2018 and reportedly sold all of his shares, Elaine is the company’s largest individual shareholder. (Image: AFP)
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Bill and Sue Gross | In 2016, Sue filed for divorce from Bill, the founder of asset-manager Pimco. As per the settlement, Sue reportedly walked away with a $1.3 billion fortune. This included a $36 million beach house and a contested 1932 Picasso painting ‘Le Repos’ that she later reportedly sold for $35 million. (Image: Reuters)
