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Melinda French Gates, 60, and her ex-husband Bill Gates, 69, shocked the world once they launched a press release in May 2021 saying the tip of their 27-year marriage. The philanthropist and Microsoft founder, who have been married in 1994, each took to Twitter and Instagram to share the information and revealed {that a} “great deal of thought” went into their last choice.
— Melinda French Gates (@melindagates) 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,” the assertion learn. “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 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.”
Here are 5 issues it’s best to learn about Melinda and her background with Bill.
When Did Melinda and Bill Gates First Meet?
Melinda met Bill in 1987. The pair dated 4 seven years earlier than tying the knot in lovely Lanai, HI in 1994. They share three youngsters, two daughters and a son — Jennifer, Phoebeand Rory Gates.
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Melinda & Bill Gates Created a Foundation
Six years after their marriage ceremony, Bill and Melinda based the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000. The group has donated billions of {dollars} to well being analysis throughout the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In February, the muse donated $100 million to well being care analysis because the outbreak within the United States grew extra critical. In April 2020, they donated one other $150 million in testing support, remedy, and serving to impoverished nations create a plan of sustainability throughout the unsure time.
In 2024, Melinda parted methods together with her and Bill’s basis.
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Melinda Gates Previously Criticized Donald Trump
Melinda was not happy with how President Donald Trump‘s administration handled the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, May 7, 2020, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave the Trump administration a D- for his or her management throughout the outbreak. “We need leadership at the national level. We lost two months almost now in terms of our national response,” Bill shared with Politico .
Melinda additionally insisted that one of many greatest points dealing with America throughout the pandemic was the shortage of testing. “You know, if we were doing the things that the exemplar countries are doing, like Germany, we would be testing. We would be testing, first, health care workers and then the most vulnerable, and you’d be doing contact tracing,” she stated. “And we would be able to start thinking about slowly, slowly reopening places in society in safe and healthy ways, but we have a lack of a coordinated effort.”
As a significant donor to the World Health Organization, Melinda shortly turned certainly one of strongest voices from the Trump administration opposition. Her basis has donated tens of millions of {dollars} to fight the pandemic, making her and her soon-to-be ex-husband, two of the most important monetary donors within the battle towards COVID-19.
Melinda Gates Received Honors for Her Philanthropic Work
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In 2013, Melinda Gates was appointed an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her philanthropy and work on the worldwide stage. In 2016, former President Barack Obama additionally awarded her and her husband the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his or her philanthropic efforts.
Melinda Gates Is an Author
In 2019, Melinda printed her first e-book The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. The e-book is a New York Times bestseller. Her work centered on a span of points from little one marriage, to the shortage of entry to contraceptives, and inequity within the work place.