Bill and Melinda Gates End Their Marriage After 27 Years!

On Monday, the billionaire couple officially announced on Twitter that they have decided to part ways after 27 long years of marriage.

The joint statement read, "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. 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. We continue to share a belief in that mission and we will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow as a couple in this next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”

Bill Gates—the world's fourth richest person with a reported net worth of $130.5 billion dollars—is the co-founder of the Microsoft Corporation, who dropped out of Harvard University to achieve his dreams with friend Paul Allen, in 1975.

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In a joint petition for dissolution of marriage filed in the King County Superior Court in Seattle, the couple stated: "The marriage is irretrievably broken." 

Bill and Melinda Gates established the Seattle-based 'Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation' in 2000, which happens to be one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations—with a keen focus on public health, education. and climate change—and net assets worth 43.3 billion dollars at the end of 2019. "The pair will continue to work together to shape and approve foundation strategies, advocate for the foundation's issues, and set the organisations overall direction," the Gates Foundation said in a statement. While the details regarding the division of their financial assets remain unclear, according to a separation agreement filed in the King County Superior Court, they are seeking division of joint assets. 

The disheartening news of the couple's split comes two years after American billionaire and founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, announced that he and his wife, MacKenzie Scott, have decided to call it quits.