Life Bill and Melinda Gates enter a divorce Posted on May 4, 2021 2 min read Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google+ Multimillionaire Bill Gates and his wife Melinda are getting divorced, they announce on Twitter on Monday. The couple had been married for 27 years. The founder of software company Microsoft and his wife say they have thought long before making the decision. After the divorce, the couple plans to continue working together in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the charity they founded together in 2000. “We ask for space and privacy as we take this new step in our lives,” the spouses conclude their statement. The couple have three children. Bill and Melinda Gates met in New York in 1987. She joined Microsoft’s marketing department shortly afterwards. The two married in Hawaii in 1994. Two years later, Melinda left the technology company to focus on her family. Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen, who died in 2018. The company became the most successful software company of the 1980s and 1990s. For a long time, Gates was the richest man in the world. The 65-year-old American resigned as a board member of Microsoft in March 2020. He wanted to spend more time on philanthropic activities, such as health, education and climate change. 56-year-old Melinda Gates worked as a manager at Microsoft. She is always on the list of the most powerful women that American business magazine Forbes draws up every year.
