Bill Gross, a co-founder of Pacific Investment Management Co., has been married for the last 31 years. In that time, he's become a billionaire, and he and his wife have worked with a charity to give away around $800 million. Now, though, his wife has decided to ask for a divorce.
His wife filed for divorce back at the end of November, in a court in Los Angeles. The statement was simple, just saying that the two were facing irreconcilable differences. They have been together since 1985.
Gross is now 72 years old, and estimates of his wealth come in right around $2.1 billion. However, one of the key points of the divorce papers was that his wife said she was "unaware" of the extent of their wealth, what financial obligations they had, and the nature of those obligations and assets.
Essentially, she is claiming not to know how much wealth is there and expecting Gross to come to court with financial documents to show all of their assets and debts. While she, like anyone else, can look at the projections and estimates of their wealth, she needs something a bit more solid than that when considering how assets will need to be divided.
This is the second time that Gross has gotten divorced. He has three kids, two of whom are from his first marriage.
In complex divorce cases involving a large amount of assets, it's very crucial for both parties to know their rights. This is especially true if one party suspects there are hidden assets and that financial reports don't account for everything.