Bill and Melinda Gates married in 1994 and announced on Monday they were divorcing.

The Gates spend much of their $130 billion fortune on charity via the Bill and Melinda Foundation.
The pair have three children together and plan to continue work on their charitable foundation.

Bill and Melinda Gates are ending their marriage of 27 years.

Melinda Gates and the Microsoft cofounder both tweeted on Monday a statement announcing the divorce.

"After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," their statement said. "Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives."


The philanthropists said in the statement that they planned to continue to work together on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The pair married in 1994 , seven years after Melinda Gates joined Microsoft as a product manager. When Bill Gates initially asked her out, he inquired if they could go out "two weeks from tonight."

Melinda Gates said: "I have no idea what I'm doing two weeks from tonight." Bill Gates responded: "You're not spontaneous enough for me." After taking her number, he ended up calling her that same day.

They have three children together, including one who is a nationally ranked equestrian show jumper. Each of the Gates children will inherit $10 million, Bill Gates has said, and the rest of the Gates' fortune will go to charity.

About the time that the pair met, Microsoft had a market capitalization of about $35 billion. Now, that figure is almost $2 trillion, and Microsoft is one of the most valuable companies.

Bill Gates has an estimated net worth of $124 billion, which grew from $98 billion in 2020, according to Forbes. He is No. 4 on the outlet's ranking of the world's billionaires .

Forbes named Melinda Gates one of the most powerful women in philanthropy, placing her at the No. 5 spot on its "Power Women 2020" list. Melinda Gates has changed her Twitter-profile name to Melinda French Gates, incorporating her maiden name into the moniker.

The Gates' have long said they will spend their fortune on philanthropic causes, particularly through the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation. They launched the organization in 2000 and have given billions to global health, poverty, and education.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated upward of $250 million to coronavirus-response efforts since the pandemic began in March 2020.

A spokesperson from the foundation told Insider in an email that Bill and Melinda Gates will remain co-chairs and trustees of the organization and will continue to work together. No changes are planned for their roles in light of the news of their divorce.

In 2010, they launched The Giving Pledge with the billionaire investor Warren Buffett , a commitment to give most of their wealth to charity during their lifetime or pledge to do so after their death.

Details about the divorce are unclear, but the resulting settlement could be one of the largest ever. When Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife, MacKenzie, split up in 2019, their settlement was $38 billion . The settlement made MacKenzie Scott the third-wealthiest woman.

The Gates' split is likely to lead to questions from those in the nonprofit world wondering how, if at all, the foundation's decision-making around investments will be affected.

source: https://africa.businessinsider.com/tech-insider/bill-and-melinda-gates-are-ending-their-marriage-after-27-years/x5wb6wz

That means the road to Gates heart is opened.
At the end of the day Love, marriage, loyalty etc centers around money.
An 18 year old lady will reject the proposal of 45 year old man who is broke but has one wife, but marry a rich senator that has 6 wives. She will cladly marry an eighty years old King without asking how many wives she will meet at home as long as there is money.
The law in advanced countries will make an average woman rich if she divorces her husband, so many of the wives of rich people over there just CASH OUT of the marriage system in the name of divorce. Know this and know peace.

Hmmm it's serious