Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates announced that they are getting a divorce after 27 years of marriage, the couple announced on May 3.
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the two said in a statement posted on the Twitter account of Bill Gates, who co-founded Microsoft Corp.
“We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life,” their statement said.
Melinda Ann Gates DBE is an American philanthropist and a former general manager at Microsoft. In 2000, she and her husband Bill Gates co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private charitable organization as of 2015.
Through the foundation, she led an early 21st-century vaccination campaign which significantly contributed to the eradication of the poliovirus in Africa. Gates has consistently been ranked as one of the world’s most powerful women by Forbes.
Bill Gates, Melinda Gates getting a divorce
According to Geek Wire, Bill Gates began dating Melinda French after she started at Microsoft in 1987. “The two married on January 1, 1994, raised three children together, and grew into one of the world’s richest and most influential pairings.”
“After leaving day-to-day duties at Microsoft, the couple’s focus turned to philanthropy, global health and education with the start of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000. Headquartered in Seattle and co-chaired by the couple, the foundation has grown to become the world’s largest charitable foundation, with 1,600 employees and $54.8 billion issued in total grant payments since inception,” it added.
“Bill Gates is the fourth richest person on the planet with a net worth of $130.5 billion. Melinda Gates was No. 5 on Forbes’ list of the world’s most powerful women in 2020. Bill Gates owns 1.37% of Microsoft’s outstanding shares, which are worth more than $26 billion, according to CNBC. He stepped off the Microsoft board in March 2020, but remains as a technology adviser to CEO Satya Nadella, and also makes investments through his Gates Ventures private office.”
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