The End Of The Love Story Of Bill And Melinda Gates

Bill and Melinda Gates (Instagram @thisisbillgates)

JAKARTA - Bill and Melinda Gates decided to divorce. The philanthropic couple who are also the founders of Microsoft decided to divorce after 27 years of marriage.

Through their respective Twitter accounts, the two announced the news of their divorce. Neither Bill Gates nor Melinda disclosed the details of the cause of their divorce.

"After a lot of consideration and effort for our relationship, we made the decision to end the marriage," wrote Bill via Twitter account @billGates, Tuesday, May 4.

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- Bill Gates (Bill Gates) May 3, 2021

The surprise announcement comes less than two weeks after the couple appeared virtually at an event for health workers fighting the pandemic. Given that both have been blessed with three children.

"For more than 27 years, we raised three wonderful children and built a foundation that works for the whole world to enable everyone to lead healthy and productive lives," added Bill.

Despite their divorce, the two will continue their work at the charity Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this article, Bill also said that he and his family wanted privacy to start a new life.

"We ask for space and privacy for our family as we start our new life," Melinda uploaded the same post via her Twitter account @melindagates.

Summarized from the BBC website, Bill and Melinda began knitting love since their meeting at Microsoft. At that time Melinda joined Microsoft as product manager in 1987.

"We really care about each other and there are only two possibilities, whether we break up or we get married," said Bill in the documentary Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates which aired on Netflix.

Melinda says Bill spent weeks debating whether or not they should get married, and even listed the pros and cons of marriage on the board. Until finally they both officially married in 1994 in Lanai, Hawaii.

During the 27 years of marriage, Bill and Melinda have three children, namely Rory John Gates, Phoebe Adele Gates, and Jennifer Katherine Gates. Neither Bill nor Melinda has announced the details of the distribution of assets related to their divorce decision.

Even so, both are estimated to have a net worth of around US $ 130 billion or equivalent to Rp1,878 trillion. Both Bill and Melinda also contributed Microsoft stock dividend proceeds to their foundation with entrepreneur Warren Buffet.