Bill Gates and Melinda Gates were married for more than two decades until their 2021 separation.
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” Melinda wrote in a statement shared that May. “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.”
She added, “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 this next phase of our lives.”
Bill and Melinda tied the knot in 1994, nearly 10 years after initially meeting when she was hired at his Microsoft company. They started off as friends before entering into a romantic relationship.
Bill Gates Says Divorcing Ex-Wife Melinda Was ‘The Mistake I Most Regret’
“She had other boyfriends, and I had Microsoft,” Bill joked in 2019’s Inside Bill’s Brain. “We were like, ‘Hey we are not really serious about each other, are we? We are not going to demand each other’s time.’”
Bill and Melinda, who left the then-couple’s eponymous nonprofit in 2024, share three children: Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe. Keep scrolling for everything they’ve said about marriage and divorce:
Years of Advice
Bill and Melinda were long seen as a power couple.
“Working together as well as raising a family together, there’s a certain intensity to that,” he said during a 2019 Facebook Live session. “But we’re very lucky because we mostly see things the same way, the goals are very much the same.”
The ‘Lowest’ Moments
Speaking to USA Today in May 2022, Melinda described the moment she decided to end her marriage.
“My lowest moment in life was when I finally reached the decision that I knew I needed to leave my marriage,” she recalled. “That wasn’t something I ever thought would happen to me. It certainly wasn’t what I thought on the day I got married, but I realized for myself, I needed to make a healthier choice, and that was just a very, very sad day.”
Learning to Show Up
After the pair settled their divorce in 2021, Melinda detailed her new normal.
“It’s unbelievably painful, in innumerable ways, but I had the privacy to get through it,” she told Fortune in October 2022. “I also kept working with the person I was moving away from, and I needed to show up and be my best self every single day. So even though I might be crying at 9 a.m. and then have to be on a videoconference at 10 a.m. with the person I’m leaving, I have to show up and be my best. And I learned as a leader that I could do it.”
Melinda Gates Is Not Engaged, No Longer Dating Jon Du Pre Despite Rumors
Alleged Affair Fallout
Amid the divorce, Bill was accused of infidelity.
“The divorce is definitely a sad thing. I have responsibility for causing a lot of pain to my family,” he said on the Today show in May 2022. “It was a tough year. I feel good that all of us are moving forward now. I certainly made mistakes and I take responsibility. I don’t think delving into the particulars at this point is constructive, but yes I caused pain and I feel terrible about that.”
While Bill didn’t concretely reveal whether or not he was unfaithful, the accusations were still hurtful to Melinda.
“It wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened,” she said on CBS Mornings about what led to the breakup. “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.”
‘Hardest Thing’ She’s Faced
“[The divorce] was the hardest thing I had ever been through in my life,” Melinda said on a May 2024 episode of Jay Shetty’s podcast. “I thought I was going to be married for life. I thought I’d be married 50-plus years, and so all of a sudden, that even despite very very much work and counseling, what you had doesn’t actually exist.”
According to Melinda, she couldn’t move forward without “enough trust.”
“I never cried so much my whole life,” she added. I prayed for a lot of grace for myself, for my children [and] for the whole situation that we would somehow get through this as a family behind the scenes.”
Melinda Gates Resigns From Her and Ex-Husband Bill Gates’ Joint Foundation
Leaving the Foundation
Melinda left her role on the board of the Gates’ eponymous foundation in June 2024.
“After careful thought and reflection, I have decided to resign from my role as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” she wrote via Instagram one month earlier. “My last day of work at the foundation will be June 7th.”
Melinda further stressed that she was “immensely proud” of the work the organization had accomplished during her tenure.
“The time is right for me to move forward into my next chapter of my philanthropy,” she continued. “This is a critical moment for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world — those fighting to protect and advance equality are in urgent need of support.”
Mistakes and Failures
In a January 2025 profile with The Times of London, Bill said their divorce was “the mistake I most regret.”
“The divorce thing was miserable for me and Melinda for at least two years,” Bill said, noting that he initially hoped they could have replicated his parents’ lasting marriage. “I encouraged Melinda to be a little calmer than my mother was, but we were both quite driven. I spent more time with the kids than my dad did, but the ratio was still 10:1, with Melinda doing most things for the kids. We had a great time.”
The tech mogul added, “There is a certain wonderfulness to spending your entire adult life with one person because of the memories and depth of things you have done and having kids together. When Melinda and I met, I was fairly successful but not ridiculously successful — that came during the time that we were together. So, she saw me through a lot.”
Amicable for the Kids
“Melinda and I still see each other — we have three kids and two grandchildren so there are family events,” Bill told The Times of London in January 2025. “The kids are doing well. They have good values.”
Melinda Reacts to Bill’s ‘Mistake’ Comment
While speaking with The Sunday Times in April 2025, Melinda addressed Bill’s comments to the outlet about their divorce being his biggest failure.
“It was something that was necessary,” she said. “If you can’t live your values out inside your most intimate relationship, it was necessary. I don’t even quite know what to make of that statement, so I’m not going to comment on what he says. He’s got his own life. I have my life now. I am very happy.”
