FB Roundup: Melinda French Gates, Arthur Irving, Slavica Malic
Melinda French Gates to step down from Gates Foundation
Melinda French Gates, the former wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has said that she will step down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
On the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, she said that he last day of work would be 7 June.
“This is not a decision I came to lightly. I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequalities around the world,” she said.
She added that under the terms of her agreement with Gates, she had an additional $12.5 billion to commit to her work on behalf of women and families. She said that she would share details of what that would look like “in the near future”.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a US private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the second-largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $69 billion in assets as of 2020.
The Gates Foundation’s work has targeted anti-poverty and global health initiatives around the world specifically in Africa, the Indian sub-continent and South Asia.
Irving Oil’s Arthur Irving dies at 93
Billionaire Arthur Irving who ran Canada's largest oil refinery, has died at the age of 93.
In 1972, he became President and Chairman of Irving Oil which he built into a conglomerate that employs 4,000 people and processes 320,000 barrels of crude oil a day. The Saint John refinery is Canada's largest oil refinery.
He was known as much for his charity work. He and his wife championed cancer survivorship programmes and at the Lahey Clinic, supported both a chair in neurology and mentorship programmes.
Irving was also proud of his commitment to a US 501 nonprofit organisation dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and associated upland habitats for waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited. He served on the board for 32 years, two of those as President. The Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy and Society at Dartmouth College and the Arthur L. Irving Entrepreneurship Centre at Saint Mary’s University are lasting legacies of his commitment to, as his official obituary says “making this world a better place”.
His philanthropic work was widely recognised. He was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 2002, and in 2012, he received the Order of New Brunswick. In 1997, Irving was inducted into the New Brunswick Business Hall of Fame, and in 2008, he was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame.
Irving is survived by his wife of 40 years; his brother James K. Irving; his children Jennifer Goddard, Kenneth Irving, Arthur Irving Jr., Emily Irving and Sarah Irving; eight grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter. His brother Jack died in 2010.
Forbes Magazine estimated Arthur Irving’s wealth at $6.4 billion and he was ranked the eighth-richest person in Canada.
Slavica Malic sets up family office
Slavica Malic, the former wife of Bernie Ecclestone, has established a family office to manage her divorce settlement from the Formula One billionaire.
The Slavica Malic Foundation has been set up in London, records show and last year she established Elm Cove, originally called SM Private Office, also in London.
According to those filings, she is being helped by London-based trust manager Stefan Le Marquand, while news agency Bloomberg reports that former HSBC managing director Fredrik Nerbrand has now joined as the office’s chief investment officer.
Malic received around $881 million in her divorce settlement from Ecclestone in 2009.
Familiar to the pages of tabloid newspapers, Ecclestone met Croatian-born Malic in 1982 when she was modelling at the 1982 Italian Grand Prix. They married in London in 1985 and have two daughters Tamara and Petra.
Throughout the marriage, Malic managed the $5 billion family fortune via trusts in Jersey.
