7 Things You Should Know About Bill And Melinda Gates
Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda announced they are separating after 27 years of marriage.
The divorce announcement is coming just over two years after Bill Gates fellow billionaire and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, parted ways with his wife, MacKenzie in 2019.
READ ALSO: Bill Gates Divorces Wife Melinda Gates
According to the pair, “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,” it read.
“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 the next phase of our lives.
“We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”
Here are things you should know about Bill and Melinda Gates
- Bill and Melinda Gates met in the late 1980s when Melinda joined Bill’s Microsoft firm and have three children.
- The two got married in Hawaii in 1994 after Bill Gates had weighed the pros and cons on a blackboard.
- The couple runs Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which funds programs in global health, gender equality, education, and other causes.
- They dedicated $20 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the foundation as they sought to increase their commitment to philanthropy, Bill Gates wrote in a 2019 blog post.
- Bill and Melinda Gates are co-chairs and trustees of the foundation, which launched in 2000. The foundation has over $51 billion in assets, according to a tax filing.
- Bill Gates owns 1.37% of Microsoft’s outstanding shares, which are worth more than $26 billion, according to FactSet.
- The couple was creators, along with Warren Buffett, of the Giving Pledge, which involves giving away more than half of their wealth.
