Bill and Melinda Gates Set for Divorce, Foundation and $148 Billion Fortune at Stake

UTC by Oluwapelumi Adejumo · 3 min read
Bill and Melinda Gates Set for Divorce, Foundation and $148 Billion Fortune at Stake
Photo: World Economic Forum / Flickr

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the richest philanthropic agencies in the world. The foundation has approximately $51 billion in assets and has enjoyed tremendous support from Microsoft.

A statement co-written by Bill Gates, co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft, and his wife, Melinda French Gates, posted on their verified Twitter handles revealed that the couple were set for a divorce after a marriage of 27years. Though the statement highlighted that they both would continue to work together in their philanthropic efforts which cater to education, gender equality and health care.

Per their announcement to split, the former power couple wrote “after a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage.” While also mentioning their foundation, family and their need for the public to respect their privacy. In their words “over the last 27 years, 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. We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”

Their decision to split would come as a rude awakening to many who view the couple as a model. As recent as 2019, in a Netflix documentary titled “Inside Bill’s Brain,” the American billionaire had hailed Melinda as a “truly equal partner.” He had described her as “a lot like me in that she is optimistic and she is interested in science. She is better with people than I am. She’s a tiny bit less hardcore about knowing, you know, immunology than I am.”

Since his retirement from the day-to-day running of Microsoft, which he co-founded with Paul Allen in 1975, Bill Gates has focused on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He and Melinda Gates act as co-chairs and trustees for the foundation. 

The former richest man in the world had relinquished his role as a member of the board of Microsoft to focus on the philanthropic foundation. Notably, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the richest philanthropic agencies in the world. The foundation has approximately $51 billion in assets and has enjoyed tremendous support from Microsoft.

While the estranged couple might be trying to chart a new path, their divorce would definitely lead to one of the most interesting scenes to keep up within the American business and financial scene as it would be eating into the wealth of Bill Gates. 

Per Forbes ranking, the former Microsoft CEO is the fourth richest man behind Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, LVMH’s Bernard Arnault and Tesla’s Elon Musk.

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