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Bill And Melinda Gates Divorce: 10 Things To Know

The two met in New York in the 1980s, early into Melinda's time at Microsoft.

STP Team

04 May 2021 03:27 IST

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Bill Gates wild parties, Bill and Melinda Divorce Gates to separate (1)

Bill and Melinda Gates announced their separation after 27 years of marriage via social media handles. The couple founded their philanthropic organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, together in 2000. Since then, the foundation has spent $53.8 billion on a wide range of initiatives related to global health. Here are 10 things to know about the couple's divorce announcement.

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Bill And Melinda Gates End 27-Year Marriage "After Great Deal Of Thought"
"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 statement says. "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."
The foundation has spent $53.8 billion since 2000 as per their official website.
Bill and Melinda began dating in 1987 after meeting at a New York trade show, and she'd go on to work in marketing for Microsoft and be appointed as General Manager of Information Products in the early '90s.

The turning point: Our first trip to Africa | Bill Gates Credit: Gatesnotes

Bill and Melinda Divorce: While the separation stands to shake up the rankings of the world's wealthiest people, the pair stressed it will have little impact on their philanthropic behemoth.

"After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," the two said in a statement posted on Twitter.
"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."
While the divorce will have a material impact on the world's wealthiest people, the couple said their efforts together for world philanthropy will not been impacted.
Bill and Melinda will remain co-chairs and trustees of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The two met in New York in the 1980s, early into Melinda's time at Microsoft.
"We fell in love with everything we saw but it's really not at all trite to say that we really fell in love with the people," Melinda said at a Salesforce event in 2016. "It just started us on this series of questions of sort of saying to ourselves, 'What is going on here?'"
The couple wed on January 1, 1994 in Hawaii ... and Melinda left the company in 1996 to focus on starting their family.
Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, 65, is the world's fourth-richest person. Melinda Gates, 56, is a former Microsoft manager who's become an outspoken advocate on global health and equality for women in her role co-running the foundation.

Image Credit: TimeToast

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