- “Bond King” Bill Gross is retiring after more than 40 years in the financial industry.
- Gross has amassed a $1.5 billion net worth, according to Forbes – at one point, his fortune was at least $2.5 billion.
- About $1.3 billion of his fortune went to his ex-wife, Sue Gross, following a nasty divorce.
- Gross largely spends his fortune on real estate and philanthropy.
“Bond King” Bill Gross is saying goodbye to Wall Street.
Gross, 74, is retiring from the financial industry he worked in for more than 40 years, he said on Monday. In 1971, Gross founded Pimco, where he served as the managing director and chief investment officer. In 2014, he joined the global asset-management firm Janus Henderson.
During that time, Gross amassed a fortune that was worth at least $2.5 billion at one point. After he was embroiled in a nasty divorce, his estimated net worth dropped to $1.5 billion – but that’s nothing to scoff at.
Aside from the $1.3 billion that went to his ex-wife post-divorce, Gross has dropped a large chunk of his fortune on two things: real estate and philanthropy.
Throughout the years, Gross has purchased a series of homes along California's coast, namely in Laguna Beach, creating an impressive real-estate portfolio. Equally impressive is the $700 million he's donated to charity - and that doesn't even scratch the surface, seeing as he said he plans to focus on working with charitable organizations during retirement.
Below, see how Gross spends his fortune.
"Bond King" Bill Gross has an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion.
Source: Forbes
Gross founded the investment-management firm Pimco in 1971. The firm would eventually reach a peak of $2 trillion in assets under management, and Gross' personal bank account grew with it.
Source: Forbes, Business Insider
In 1999, the German insurer Allianz bought Pimco, and Gross began earning a $200 million annual salary. In 2013, he received a $290 million bonus.
Source: Bloomberg, Business Insider
In 2014, Gross left to join the asset-management firm Janus Henderson, where he managed a smaller portfolio of $1.5 billion.
Some of Gross' fortune is invested in the Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, as well as closed-end municipal bond funds and stocks in Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson.
Source: Bloomberg
However, Gross used to be worth even more. His fortune reached $2.5 billion in 2017.
Source: Business Insider
A messy divorce with his wife, Sue, that went on for more than two years caused him to drop off the Forbes 400 list in 2018.
Source: Forbes
She received more than $1.3 billion and two of their cats.
Source: Forbes
The Grosses acquired quite the collection of heirlooms during their marriage, including antique clocks, luxury cars, and a $56 million art collection — half of which Sue Gross received in the divorce.
Source: Business Insider, Forbes
Their art collection included Picasso's "Les Repos," which sold for $36.92 million at Sotheby's auction house.
Source: Business Insider
But Bill Gross' biggest collection is real estate.
Gross purchased a 13,819-square-foot property in Laguna Beach's Irvine Cove area in 1988. While it's unclear how much he paid for it, it has six bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
Source: Yolanda's Little Black Book
Gross also owns a compound in Indian Wells, California. He reportedly purchased a lot there for $2.5 million in 1995 and built an 11,316-square-foot mansion with an infinity pool.
Source: Yolanda's Little Black Book
In 2002, Gross reportedly paid $20 million for a mansion on 17 Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, California. He later sold it for $16.5 million, suffering a $3.5 million loss.
Source: Yolanda's Little Black Book
In 2009, he bought a bayfront home in Newport Beach for $23 million and tried to flip it. It reportedly sold for $20.8 million in April 2014.
Source: Wall Street Journal, Yolanda's Little Black Book
In 2011, Gross bought Jennifer Aniston's Beverly Hills home for a reported $37 million.
Source: Business Insider
In 2014, he bought two houses across the street and next door to his Irvine Cove mansion for $19.8 million and $16 million — a total of $35.8 million, all in cash.
Source: Yolanda's Little Black Book
Bill and Sue Gross also owned a home in Corona del Mar and a condo in Park City, Utah.
Source: Business Insider
In 2018 during the divorce, Bill and Sue Gross separately spent nearly $150 million buying four homes in Laguna Beach over one month in a bidding war, bringing their total home count in the area up to seven.
Source: The Real Deal
Bill Gross paid $32 million for a house on the Pacific Coast Highway and $36 million for a 5,500-square-foot oceanfront house in Irvine Cove. It was the third-highest price paid for a single home in Orange County.
Source: The Real Deal, Orange County Register
Sue Gross was awarded a $70 million package of three homes they owned during their 30-year marriage, including their $36 million Laguna Beach house.
Source: The Real Deal, Forbes
Bill Gross hired private security guards during the divorce.
Source: Business Insider
As part of his West Coast lifestyle, Gross loves to practice yoga.
Source: Business Insider
He has also played golf at The Vintage Club and Big Canyon Country Club.
Source: Business Insider
Gross is also an avid stamp collector. He's spent as much as $3 million collecting every stamp produced by the US from 1847 to 1869, and some of his collections have sold for up to $500,000.
Source: Business Insider
Gross was once a professional blackjack player. He turned $200 into $10,000 in a four-month stint in Vegas. It paid for his UCLA business-school tuition.
Source: Business Insider, Reuters
He has a penchant for Hermès ties, which range from $140 to $305.
Source: Business Insider, Hermès
But Gross has an even greater affinity for giving away his money. Bloomberg has called him one of the biggest philanthropists.
Source: Bloomberg
He's donated as much as $700 million and said he plans to donate his remaining millions. He once told Bloomberg the amount of his fortune was "staggering, even to me."
Source: Bloomberg
He mostly donates through the William and Sue Gross Family Foundation, which supports healthcare, medical research, and education. The foundation donated more than $21 million in 2018.
Source: Bloomberg, Business Insider
He donated the $81 million he received in a settlement with Pimco in a wrongful-dismissal lawsuit to the foundation.
Source: Forbes
Much of his donations go toward health: $20 million to Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, $20 million to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, $20 million to the medical charity Mercy Ships, and $10 million to Mission Hospital in Laguna Beach.
Source: Bloomberg
The William and Sue Gross Family Foundation committed $40 million toward establishing the Sue and Bill Gross School of Nursing at the University of California.
Source: Los Angeles Times
Gross has also donated $23.5 billion to his alma mater, Duke University, for financial aid.
He's also given to arts and culture organizations, donating $10 million to the Smithsonian Institution for a stamp-collecting gallery.
Source: Business Insider
He and Sue Gross wrote anonymous $15,000 checks to workers laid off from NASA's Space Shuttle program in 2012.
Source: Business Insider
That's not to mention personal gifts he and Sue Gross reportedly gave American families in need.
Source: Bloomberg
Bill Gross has also given to worldwide charitable efforts. He worked with GiveDirectly, which donates to poor people in Africa.
Source: Bloomberg
He also donated more than $19 million to the Millennium Villages Project, which focuses on the causes of extreme poverty in Africa.
Source: Inside Philanthropy
Gross says he plans to work with charitable organizations during his retirement.
Source: Business Insider