World’s fourth richest man, Bill Gates and his wife Melinda have announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage, clarifying that “we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple”.
The pair, who disclosed the development in separate tweets, wrote “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage”.
It’s important to note that the separated couple first met in the 1980s when Melinda joined Bill’s Microsoft firm.
It’s also imperative to note that the billionaire couple have three children and jointly run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Records have it that the organization has spent billions fighting causes such as infectious diseases and encouraging vaccinations in children.
It should be noted that The Gates – along with investor Warren Buffett – are behind the Giving Pledge, which calls on billionaires to commit to giving away the majority of their wealth to good causes.
According to Forbes, Bill Gates is worth $124bn (£89bn). He reportedly made his money through the firm he co-founded in the 1970s, Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company.
The divorce tweet read “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 the next phase of our lives.
“We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”
It would be recalled that Melinda, 56, joined Microsoft as a product manager in 1987, and the two sat together at a business dinner that year in New York. Later on, they began dating, and eventually got married in 1994.
The couple established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 in Seattle. The foundation focuses primarily on public health, education and climate change.
