World’s fourth richest man, Bill Gates and wife Melinda are getting a divorce after 27 years of marriage.
Bill posted the update over the night, (Monday/Tuesday) on his social media handles.
His post:
The announcement comes 2 years after the divorce of another one of the world’s richest man Amazon founder, Jeff Bezosand wife Mackenzie.
A few facts about Bill and Melinda:
- They 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 programmes 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.
- The two 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 were creators, along with Warren Buffett, of the Giving Pledge, which involves giving away more than half of their wealth.