Bill and Melinda Gates file for divorce after 27 years of marriage

The 65-year-old Microsoft co-founder and his 56-year-old wife have a fortune of $ 124 billion. They are among the top five richest couples in the world. Now their main occupation is philanthropy: the couple jointly run the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. However, the Gates promise that the divorce will not affect the fate of the foundation, and they will continue to work together. The couple have three children - 25-year-old Jennifer, 21-year-old Rory and 18-year-old Phoebe.

The announcement of the divorce came as a surprise - less than two weeks since the couple showed up together at an event for paramedics fighting the pandemic. However, two years ago, when the Gates celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, Melinda admitted in an interview that their marriage was "incredibly difficult" because her husband works 16 hours a day and finds it difficult to find time for the family.

Bill and Melinda met in 1987. By that time, he was already a co-founder of Microsoft and a billionaire, and she came to work at the company. They got married in 1994. Subsequently, Melinda said that this decision was not easy for Bill: for several weeks he pondered the prospects of family life and even made lists of arguments for and against marriage. “He explained that it’s not about me, but whether he will be able to find a balance between work and family life,” Melinda said later.

Bill Gates is now ranked fourth in the list of the richest people in the world, his fortune is estimated at 124 billion dollars. He would be even richer if he donated less generously. Since 1994, Gates has donated at least $ 40 billion to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which funds IT education, health care, and poverty reduction initiatives around the world, including large-scale HIV and malaria projects. In 2010, the couple launched The Giving Pledge with Warren Buffett. Now more than 200 billionaires from 23 countries have joined them, promising to donate at least 50% of their capital to charity.

This divorce is the second among the super rich in recent years. In 2019, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos parted ways with his wife, Mackenzie Scott. After that, Smith, with $ 38 billion, became the fourth richest woman in the world. (By the way, Bezos is the only one of the top five richest people in the United States who did not join the Giving Oath.)