Bill Gates announced over Twitter that he and his wife, Melinda, are getting a divorce. They referred to this announcement as their “joint statement”.
In a post on both of their verified accounts, they stated the following:
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 3, 2021
A Standford University political science professor shared his concern on how this may affect philanthropic efforts. “The Gates Foundation is the most important and influential philanthropic entity in the world today,” Rob Reich commented. “Since the Gates Foundation is a family foundation and the Gates are breaking apart their family, the divorce may have huge repercussions for the foundation and for its work across the globe.”
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which was co-founded by the couple, has given over $5 billion yearly to United States education. It has $51 billion in assets, making it one of the world’s largest philanthropies. It also helps with worldwide disease extraction. The couple’s divorce may have large interferences with their philanthropic efforts.
“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 this next phase of our lives,” Bill and Melinda had tweeted.
This is another major change in Bill Gates’ life. He stepped down from his board of directors position at Microsoft in March of 2020.
This is the second major billionaire divorce in the past few years. In 2019, Jeff Besos split with his wife of twenty-six years, Mackenzie Besos. She donated $4.1 billion to 384 different organizations and nonprofits. These included the likes of HBCUs, Coding programs, and YMCAs.
