Bill and Melinda Gates to divorce after 27 years of marriage
l and Melinda Gates are ending their 27-year-long relationship, the Microsoft mogul said in a statement on Monday.
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the statement reads. “Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable people to lead healthy, productive lives.”
The statement refers to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a philanthropic organization that supports a variety of issues that the couple founded in 2000.
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 3, 2021
The Gateses said they 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.”
The couple asked for “space and privacy” for their family as they “begin to navigate this new life.”
The Gateses began dating in 1987 after meeting at a trade fair in New York. They married in 1994 in a private ceremony in Hawaii.
