Melinda Gates Opens up About Divorce From Bill Gates

Melinda French Gates is talking publicly for the first time about her "unbelievably painful" divorce from Bill Gates. Additionally, French Gates, 58, told Fortune magazine, "I had some reasons I just couldn’t stay in that marriage anymore. But the odd thing about COVID is that it gave me the privacy to do what I needed to do." She added, "It’s unbelievably painful, in innumerable ways, but I had the privacy to get through it." For those unaware, Melinda and Bill, 66, married in 1994 and were together for 27 years before divorcing in May 2021. In addition, they have three children together - Jennifer, 25, Rory, 23, and Phoebe, 19, who were always Melinda's "main concern" during the split. However, the couple still runs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which they established in 2000. Additionally, French Gates credits it for helping her to cope with her feelings. The philanthropist stated, "I kept working with the person I was moving away from, and I needed to show up and be my best self every single day. So even though I might be crying at 9 a.m. and then have to be on a video conference at 10 a.m. with the person I’m leaving, I have to show up and be my best. I learned as a leader that I could do it. It reminded me that the foundation calls me to be my best." Moreover, French Gates said that helping those going through difficult times during the pandemic enabled her to perform at her best during her own difficult time. She remarked, "We work with unbelievable partners around the world who were also struggling during COVID. I was on a video call with a woman who had lost her father, and a week later she’s on a call with me, right?"

What's more

On another note,  French Gates admitted that she shed "a lot of tears for many days" and was "grieving a loss" as a result of the divorce in an interview with Gayle King on "CBS Mornings" earlier this year. On the other hand, it was revealed in 2021 that Bill had a lengthy affair with a Microsoft employee in 2000. In addition, he apparently asked out several women in the company while he was married. But, it's unclear how much French Gates was aware of this behavior at the time.