Melinda French Gates has acquired a stake from Cascade Investment, the company of her ex-husband Bill Gates, in Orascom Construction, listed on the Nasdaq Dubai, after the transfer of 6.52 million shares to her on May 10. According to a disclosure sent to Nasdaq Dubai, Cascade Investment no longer owns any shares in Orascom Construction, which is controlled by Egyptian billionaire Nassef Sawiris.
The stock transfer is part of the divorce proceedings that the couple initiated two weeks ago, with Melinda set to receive a significant portion of the billionaire Microsoft founder’s wealth, estimated at roughly $146 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The disclosure noted that prior to the transaction, Melinda had no direct holdings in Orascom Construction, but she did possess an indirect stake of 263,408 shares, representing 0.2% of the company, through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where she is a co-trustee.
It is worth mentioning that Cascade Investment's stake was acquired during the delisting of Orascom for Construction and Industry from the Egyptian stock market, following its acquisition by Dutch OCI NV. Cascade Investment participated in the transaction as a financier for one of the delisting options, providing cash alternatives for minority shareholders who rejected the equity swap option at that time. Additionally, Cascade Investment disclosed transfers of shares worth approximately $3 billion in various companies to Melinda French Gates in Canada, Mexico, and the United States on May 11.
