MELINDA French Gates has given a frank response to ex-husband Bill after the Microsoft boss said their divorce was his “worst mistake”.
The pair ended their marriage and parted ways in 2021 – two years after Melinda admitted that marital life was “really hard.”
AFPMelinda Gates said she knew she would do ‘okay’ after the divorce[/caption]
EPAThey pair ended their marriage and parted ways in 2021[/caption]
Bill Gates, his ex-wife Melinda and their three children
At the time, Gates said they decided to end the marriage after a “great deal of thought and a lot of work”.
Earlier, the billionaire Microsoft boss revealed that his divorce from ex-wife Melinda after 27 years of marriage is “the mistake he regrets the most”.
Responding to the statement, Melinda frankly said she knew she would be “okay”.
During an interview with Elle, the philanthropist said: “Look, divorces are painful, and it’s not something I would wish on any family.
“But again, I knew when I got divorced, I would be okay on my own. And I think that was the most important thing.”
Bill opened up about the split in January and said it left him “miserable”.
The Microsoft co-founder had hoped his marriage to Melinda would be as successful as his parents Bill Sr. and Mary, who lived together for 45 years.
“The divorce thing was miserable for me and Melinda for at least two years,” Bill told The Times of London.
“There is a certain wonderfulness to spending your entire adult life with one person because of the memories and depth of things you have done and having kids together,” he added.
Melinda previously admitted to The Sunday Times that being with Bill was often “incredibly hard” when they marked 25 years of marriage.
“When he was having trouble making the decision about getting married, he was incredibly clear that it was not about me, it was about ‘Can I get the balance right between work and family life?”’ she said in 2019.
The pair met when Melinda joined Microsoft in 1987 at a business dinner in New York City, and after a year of dating, it was reported that Bill had to make a pros and cons list about getting married.
“You know, we cared a lot for each other and there were only two possibilities: either, we were going to break up or we were going to get married,” Bill said in the Netflix three-episode series “Inside Bill’s Brain”.
“I took the idea of marriage very seriously,” Bill said.
Melinda was a high-powered Microsoft executive before meeting and marrying Bill and going on to have three kids with him, Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe.
She had been a general manager at the computer company, won his heart by beating him at a maths game and Cluedo during a puzzle contest.
Bill Gates bio
Microsoft founder Bill Gates is one of the richest men who has ever lived and regularly features high on the list of the world’s wealthiest individuals.
Gates grew up in Seattle, Washington with his two sisters and parents.
He started Microsoft with Paul Allen after dropping out of college.
Gates stepped down from the board of Microsoft on March 13, 2020, nearly 45 years after he founded the company with Paul Allen and 20 years after he stepped down as CEO in 2000.
He has now sold or given away much of his stake in the company.
In 2000, he and his then-wife Melinda Gates worked together to found the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the largest charitable foundations in the world with an endowment of $50 billion.
To date, Gates has donated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the Gates Foundation.
Forbes places his next worth as of January 2025 at $106.9 billion.
She formalised the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 and the couple has forked out billions addressing major global issues, like gender equality and poverty.
The couple tied the knot in Lanai, Hawaii, when Gates was 38 and Melinda was 29.
Melinda reportedly had been working with firms for months on end to put a stop to her marriage to Microsoft co-founder Bill.
The 56-year-old philanthropist then filed papers in court confirming that the marriage was “irretrievably broken”.
Bill Gates’s divorce in 2021 was the most expensive divorce – with Melinda getting a whopping $76 billion.
Insiders claimed the divorce was “not friendly” and the split has been a “long time coming”.
GettyThe couple met in the late 1980s[/caption]
Instagram/Melinda GatesThe couple were married for 27 years[/caption]
Instagram/Jennifer GatesBill and Melinda have three children[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
