Bill and Melinda Gates are the second ultra-rich couple to split up in the US.
After 27 years of marriage, the mega-billionaire couple Bill Gates and Melinda Gates have called it quits. The power couple who emerged as a philanthropy powerhouse with a foundation named after themselves, are divorcing each other as their marriage has “irretrievably broken”. Bill and Melinda took to their official social media handles to share the news about ending their more than two decades of marriage.
Earlier on Monday, a joint statement posted on Twitter by the Microsoft founder said: “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage.
“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 foundations, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.”
Reason behind the divorce after 27 years
There are several media reports doing rounds about Melinda and Bill Gates split. A report said that Melinda has previously suggested that Bill Gates was facing trouble in balancing work and family.
Other media reports said that there was another woman lurking in Bill Gates’s life. He had an unusual arrangement with his wife that allowed him while they were married to spend a long weekend with his former girlfriend Ann Winblad every year, according to Time magazine.
Gates and Winblad, who was five years his senior, had broken off in 1987 because she was ready for marriage, but he wasn’t, according to the magazine. But they stayed in touch.
Speaking to the magazine for a 1997 article, he said, “When I was off on my own thinking about marrying Melinda, I called Ann and asked for her approval.”
Bill and Melinda Gates are the second ultra-rich couple to split up in the US.
An irretrievably broken marriage
According to TMZ, a media outlet that is up on celebrity affairs, Melinda Gates filed for the divorce asserting that their marriage was “irretrievably broken”.
According to The New York Times, this isn’t the first time Bill and Melinda Gates have experienced a rocky patch in their marriage — though clearly, this is the most serious setback. Inside sources revealed to the outlet that “there were several times when the relationship neared collapse, but they worked to keep it together.” These previous struggles may have fueled Bill’s decision to step down from Microsoft’s Board in 2020 in order to prioritize his family life over his work.
Melinda also alluded to some less-than-idyllic moments in the couple’s marriage in a 2019 interview with the Sunday Times of London, even sharing Bill’s indecision about getting married in the first place. “When he was having trouble making the decision about getting married, he was incredibly clear that it was not about me, it was about, ‘Can I get the balance right between work and family life?'” she shared. “And, believe me, I can remember some days that were so incredibly hard in our marriage where you thought, ‘Can I do this?'” While we’re left in the dark about the couple’s specific challenges, it seems that the split may have been coming for a while.
Melinda has refused alimony
People magazine reported that they will have a separation agreement to divide their wealth.
TMZ said it had seen the filings in a Seattle court and the couple, who jointly run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation does not have a pre-nuptial agreement on splitting their wealth that many ultra-wealthy couples make to lessen the likelihood of disputes should they break up.
Melinda Gates filed for a temporary order that would prevent either of them from disposing property or making changes to insurance policies unless they agreed in writing or court-ordered it, the magazine reported.
She is not asking for any payment of spousal support, it added.
The high-profile couple is blessed with three children, son Rory John, 21, and daughters Phoebe Adele, 18, and Jennifer Katharine, 25, who are all adults, they will not have the headache of child custody arrangements.
Bill, who is one of the richest people in the world, has often emphasized in interviews that his children should only inherit a small part of his wealth.
Net-worth of Bill Gates
The financial magazine Forbes has estimated he is worth more than $100 billion.
How did Bill and Melinda meet?
According to reports, Melinda Gates was an employee of Microsoft where she met Bill Gates.
They first met for a dinner in 1987 and later began dating leading to their marriage on New Year’s Day in 1994.