Bill and Melinda Gates to divorce after 27 years of marriage

Bill and Melinda Gates said on Monday that they were divorcing after 27 years of marriage.

“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 Twitter. “We have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.”

The couple founded their philanthropic organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, together in 2000. Since then, the foundation has spent $53.8 billion on a wide range of initiatives related to global health, poverty alleviation, and more, according to its website.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has also given away more than $50 billion, contributing to the fight against Covid-19, leading the charge on climate change and advocating for women’s rights.

Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, 65, is the world’s fourth-richest person. Melinda Gates, 56, is a former Microsoft manager who’s become an outspoken advocate on global health and equality for women in her role co-running the foundation.

The couple met shortly after Melinda joined the company in 1987, at a business dinner in New York. She described the encounter in her book, “The Moment of Lift:” “I showed up late, and all the tables were filled except one, which still had two empty chairs side by side. I sat in one of them. A few minutes later, Bill arrived and sat in the other.”

The couple married in Hawaii in 1994.

In March 2020, Bill Gates stepped down from the boards of Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway to “dedicate more time to his philanthropic priorities.”

In a joint statement on Monday, the couple asked for privacy. They said, “We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”

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