Wow, this was a split we did not see coming!
Bill Gates and Melinda Gates (née French) have announced that after 27 years of marriage, they’re getting divorced!
The (now former) couple shared the news on Twitter on Monday afternoon in twin announcement posts, where they wrote:
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage. 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 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. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”
— Melinda French Gates (@melindagates) May 3, 2021
Damn. After that many years together? And three kids?? What could have happened??
Is this because of that time he secretly started a global pandemic in order to profit in ways only conspiracy theorists seem to understand? (OMG WE ARE KIDDING! PLEASE IGNORE ALL OF THAT NONSENSE YOU SEE OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS!)
Look, maybe it was some dark, awful thing that will come out in the next few weeks, but it’s equally plausible nothing at all happened. As sad as it is, at the end of the day sometimes people grow apart, and even if it’s a little at a time, after over nearly three decades that can leave people in very different places.
It seems likely the couple’s divorce won’t get messy. Though they met in the late 1980s, Bill was already incredibly rich — he was the CEO of Microsoft at the time — so they actually signed a separation contract when they got married. Apparently Melinda was the one to actually file for divorce, asking a judge to enforce that contract.
If you thought Dr. Dre‘s divorce was going to be expensive, just wait until you hear these numbers…
As of February, Bill Gates was worth an estimated $137 BILLION — with a B. Can you imagine giving a big chunk of that away?? Though at least they have some practice giving away unimaginable sums of money with their charitable foundation, which has spent nearly $54 billion over the past two decades trying to help alleviate sickness and poverty around the world.
We’re being a bit glib, but seriously — these two have been working full-time the past few years as philanthropists. They spent the last year or so trying to help with the pandemic, getting a vaccine developed as quickly as possible and spread around the world. They spent a reported $1.75 billion on that alone! We guess we just thought all that good work would give them a peace of mind most of us aren’t afforded. But we guess even that can’t solve every problem.
What do YOU think of Bill and Melinda Gates divorcing??
[Image via Daniel Deme/WENN.]
The post Bill & Melinda Gates Getting Divorced! Who Filed, Why, & HOW MUCH Will It Cost?? appeared first on Perez Hilton.
