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Nobody saw the divorce invoice and Melinda Gates at. After 27 years together, three children, and founding the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the relationship between the former couple seemed impenetrable. The Microsoft co-founder made a shocking announcement about their separation after nearly three decades of marriage in a tweet on May 3, 2021.
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” he wrote in the joint statement. “Over the past 27 years, we have raised three wonderful children and built a foundation that works around the world to empower everyone to live healthy, productive lives. We continue to share belief in this mission and will continue our work together in [Gates] foundation, but we no longer believe that we can grow together as a couple in the next stage of our lives. He ended the statement with a plea for privacy amid their attempts to “navigate this new life.”
Although the former couple seem amicable, many are wondering what led to the split – especially now that Bill is involved with… Jeffrey Epstein It became a headline. less, Hollywood life It breaks down, leading to the longtime power couple’s divorce.
How many years were Bill and Melinda Gates married?
Bill and Melinda Gates met in 1987 when she started working as a product manager there. The couple got engaged in 1993 and married in Hawaii in 1994. They announced their separation in 2021 after nearly three decades of marriage. They eventually finalized their divorce months later in August of 2021. During their time together, they welcomed three children – Jennifer, vibeand RoryShe founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, from which Melinda resigned in 2024.
Nearly four years after their split, Bell opened up about his previous marriage in an initial interview with Times of London. “There’s something wonderful about spending your entire adult life with one person because of the memories and the depth of the things you’ve done and having children together,” he said in the interview published on January 25.
Why did Bill Gates break up with Melinda?
In a 2022 interview with Gayle King on cbs morning, Melinda admitted that although Bill had confirmed an affair with a Microsoft employee two decades earlier, there was “no one moment or one specific thing that happened” to cause the breakup. “There came a point in time where there was enough of things and I realized it wasn’t healthy, and I couldn’t trust what we had,” she explained. “I definitely believe in forgiveness, so I thought we worked through some of that.”
A source revealed to the people While Belle’s indiscretion didn’t come as a complete shock to the mother of three. “Melinda was aware there were some issues, but it’s unclear if she was aware of all of that,” the insider reportedly told the outlet in 2021. In a separate report in May 2021, a source told the outlet that the former couple had “broken up.”
“He could have treated Melinda better,” the source claimed. “He’s not a saint, but there’s no one thing that led to the final split. It’s deeper than that. It’s so many years of different views on the world, the foundation, life in general, and those things add up. They’re older and each of them has personally looked at life and asked: ‘Is there more than I have?’
In his January 2025 interview with Times of LondonBell said he felt the divorce was “the mistake I deeply regret.”
After his previous relationship with Epstein came to light in early 2026, Bell admitted to having affairs with two Russian women.
Does Bill Gates have a girlfriend?
Bell confirmed a romantic relationship with Paula Heardwidow of Oracle’s co-CEO Mark Hurdin February of 2023. The couple was seen very early, as they stepped out for a date to attend the Laver Cup in September of 2022.
