Bill Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French, were married for almost 30 years, and they dated for four years before they tied the knot. The couple didn’t reportedly sign a prenup, and it seemed as though everything was going well between them behind closed doors. But in May 2021, the exes made a shocking announcement confirming their divorce.
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage. 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,” the exes said in a statement (via NBC News).
Bill Gates Talks About His Ex-Wife Melinda French
One year later, Bill Gates sat down for an interview with London’s Sunday Times, where he talked about his divorce. The Microsoft founder revealed that he doesn’t have any regrets and would wed his ex-wife all over again. However, Gates also made it clear that no second wedding would take place because they have not reconciled.
“Every marriage as the kids leave the house will go through a transition. Mine sadly went through this transition called divorce. But from my point of view it was a great marriage. I wouldn’t have changed it. You know, I wouldn’t choose to marry someone else. Yes. I’m talking about would I marry Melinda all over again. In terms of my future, I don’t have any plans, but I highly recommend marriage,” he said (via Us Weekly).
Bill Gates, Melinda French Reached A Fair Settlement After Their Divorce Filing
The tech mogul also revealed that he and his ex-wife reached a fair settlement even if they didn’t sign a prenup before they tied the knot in 1994.
“We spent some time coming up with a fair settlement that we both signed. But neither of us was facing any real reduction in our consumption. It was more about, OK, I’ll have x billion to give away, you’ll have y billion to give away. It was about the causes. We’re very lucky people. I feel sorry when people have super-limited resources under any circumstance. And that’s not our situation. We can be reasonably generous to the kids, but the vast majority of the money will go to philanthropy,” he explained.
Melinda French Gave Her Whole Self To Her Marriage To Bill Gates
French has also spoken about her failed marriage to Gates, as well as their decision to go their separate ways. She previously told CBS Mornings that Gates’ affair wasn’t the main reason why she decided to file for divorce.
“Well, I certainly believe in forgiveness. So, I thought we had worked through some of that. It wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened. There just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realized it just wasn’t healthy and I couldn’t trust what we had,” she said (via CNET).
French also admitted that her divorce from Gates broke her heart. She said that she thought her marriage to the Microsoft billionaire would last a lifetime, but this isn’t what happened.
“I gave every single piece of myself to this marriage," she said.
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