But charitable foundation to remain intact
Billions of benefactors Bill and Melinda Gates, founders of one of the world's largest private institutions, filed for divorce on Monday after 27 years of marriage but promised to continue their charitable work together.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has become one of the largest and most influential public health organizations worldwide, spending more than $ 50 billion over the past two decades to bring business to the forefront of poverty and disease.
Gates has supported widely recommended programs to eradicate malaria and polio, child nutrition and vaccines. The foundation last year donated $ 1.75 billion to support COVID-19.
In a joint petition filing for divorce, the couple claimed that their legal union was "irreparably broken," but said they had reached an agreement on how to distribute their wedding property. No details of this agreement are provided in the Seattle High Court case in Seattle.
Bill Gates, 65, founder of Microsoft Corp, and his wife, Melinda French Gates, 56, met after joining major software as a product manager, and dated for a few years before getting married in January 1994 in Hawaii.
"After much thought and much work in our relationship, we decided to end our marriage," the two said in a joint statement posted on their Twitter account.
"We no longer believe we can grow together as lovers in the next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy in our family as we begin to explore this new life," they said.
The divorce petition, which states that the couple has no minor children, comes after the youngest of all their children has just turned 18 years old.
Launched in 2000, the non-profit Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation lays the groundwork for the largest private charity in the United States and one of the largest in the world, with $ 43.3 billion in assets by the end of 2019, according to a full annual report shown on its website.
From 1994 to 2018, the couple donated more than $ 36 billion to a foundation in Seattle, the website said.
Last year, investor Warren Buffett reported donating more than $ 2 billion from his Berkshire Hathaway Inc to the Gates Foundation as part of previously announced plans to donate all of his wealth before his death.
'No changes in their role'
In their divorce complaint, the couple asked the court to "dissolve our marriage" and separate their public property, business interests and debts "as set out in our divorce agreement," although the agreement was not disclosed publicly.
Bill Gates is ranked 4th on the Forbes list of the richest people in the world, with an estimated $ 124 billion.
In a separate statement, the Gates Foundation said the couple would remain as co-founders and trustees of the organization.
"They will continue to work together to develop and implement infrastructure strategies, fight fundamental issues, and set the direction of the organization as a whole," the constitution said in a statement.
The split came two years after another Seattle billionaire and philanthropist, founder of Amazon.com Inc. Jeff Bezos, said he and his wife at the time, MacKenzie, were divorcing.
At least one critic of billions of beneficiaries cited the Gates split as a cautionary tale with a strong focus on global aid issues under the control of very wealthy people.
"Gates' divorce will do more than improve family life.
It will enter the field of business, education, public health, community organizations, helping others, and more, "Anand Giridharadas, author of the book" Winners Take All "told Reuters.
"This is because our society has made a serious mistake in allowing the wealthy to buy the opportunity to make unusual government decisions as an independent citizen," he said.
Gates left Harvard University to start Microsoft with a Paul Allen scholarship in 1975. Gates owned 49% of Microsoft's public offerings in 1986, making him the fastest millionaire. With the rapid growth of Microsoft, it soon became one of the richest people in the world.
After a senior position where he helped transform the company into one of the world's leading technology firms, Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in 2000 to focus on helping. He remained chairman until 2014 and left the company board in March 2020.
Known in the tech industry as an acerbic and vicious competition, Gates has drawn rivalry and eventually the U.S. government Through Microsoft's business practices.
The software giant was found guilty of money laundering in the late 1990's. But the decision was reversed, and the company dropped the case out of court.
The Gates community has evolved into a national executive that serves as an adult as it has focused on helping people, and has strongly defended many of the current issues that make up the technology business.
Melinda French Gates, who recently posted her maiden name on many of her websites and social media, grew up in Dallas and studied computer science and economics at Duke University before joining Microsoft.
In 2015 she founded Pivotal Ventures, an investment company focused on women and families, and in 2019 she published a book, "The Moment of Lift", focusing on women's empowerment.
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