Bill and Melinda Gates have announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage, saying in a joint statement that they "no longer think we will flourish together as a couple in this next step of our lives."
Bill Gates is best known as the founder of Microsoft, who used his fortune at the helm of that organization to create the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 with Melinda Gates. With an endowment of nearly $50 billion, the Gates Foundation has risen to become one of, if not the largest, charitable foundations in the world.
Bill had previously resigned from his positions as CEO (in 2000), full-time employee (in 2008), and board member of Microsoft in order to devote more time to philanthropy, according to him. Until leaving Microsoft in 1996, Melinda served as a product development manager at Microsoft, where she supervised a variety of software releases.
It's unclear what effect Bill and Melinda Gates' divorce would have on the Gates Foundation. Despite their split, the Gates still believe in the Gates Foundation's mission and "will continue our work together at the foundation," according to the statement. While Bill and Melinda Gates, along with fellow billionaire Warren Buffett, serve on the Gates Foundation's board of trustees,
Mark Suzman, the foundation's CEO, is in charge.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 3, 2021
— Melinda French Gates (@melindagates) May 3, 2021