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Nobody saw the divorce of Bill and Melinda Gates coming. After 27 years together, three children, and the formation of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the former couple’s bond seemed impenetrable. The Microsoft co-founder made the shocking announcement that they’d split after nearly three decades of marriage in a tweet on May 3, 2021.
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” he wrote in the joint statement. “Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all to lead healthy, productive lives. We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the [Gates] foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives.” He finished the statement with a plea for privacy amid their attempts to “navigate this new life.”
Though the former couple appear to be amicably moving forward, many were left wondering what led to the split — especially now that Bill’s involvement with Jeffrey Epstein became a major headline. Below, Hollywood Life breaks down what led to the divorce of the longtime power couple.
How Long Were Bill & Melinda Gates Married?
Bill and Melinda Gates met in 1987 when she began working as a product manager there. The duo got engaged in 1993 and married in Hawaii in 1994. They announced their split in 2021 after nearly three decades of marriage. They ultimately finalized their divorce months later in August of 2021. During their time together, they welcomed three children — Jennifer, Phoebe, and Rory, and formed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which Melinda resigned from in 2024.
Nearly four years after their split, Bill addressed the former marriage in a raw interview with The Times of London. “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,” he said in the interview, published on January 25.
Why Did Bill Gates Get Divorced from Melinda?
In a 2022 interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings, Melinda confessed that although Bill had confirmed an affair with a Microsoft staffer two decades earlier, there “wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened” to cause the split. “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 explained. “I certainly believe in forgiveness, so I thought we had worked through some of that.”
A source divulged to People at the time that Bill’s indiscretion hadn’t been a total shock to the mom of three. “Melinda was aware there were some issues, but it’s unclear if she knew about all of it,” the insider reportedly told the outlet in 2021. In a separate May 2021 report, a source told the outlet that the former couple “grew apart.”
“He could have treated Melinda better,” the source claimed. “He’s not a saint, but there isn’t one thing that created the final split. It goes deeper than that. It’s many years of differing views of the world, the foundation, and of life in general, and those things piling up. They are older and each personally looked at life and asked, ‘Is there more out there than what I have?’”
In his January 2025 interview with The Times of London, Bill said he felt the divorce was “the mistake I most regret.”
Does Bill Gates Have a Girlfriend?
Bill confirmed a romantic relationship with Paula Hurd, the widow of Oracle co-CEO Mark Hurd, in February of 2023. The couple had been seen out and about much earlier, however, as they stepped out for a date to the Laver cup in September of 2022.
