Billionaires Experience Heart Break Too (Bill Gates and Melinda)

Who would have ever thought that a woman can leave Bill Gates even after being one of the richest men in the world? There was a time when he was the richest, now he’s amongst the Top 5. After being married for 27 years, the duo announced their divorce in 2021. How they moved from meeting at Microsoft and falling in love to announcing a divorce on Twitter is what we are about to study…Ladies and Gentlemen, shall we?

Who is Bill Gate?

I’ll start with what most people know him for; Bill Gates is the co-founder of Microsoft, a philanthropist, a business magnate, a software developer and an investor. He was married to Melinda French Gates and they have three beautiful children, Jennifer Catherine Gates, Phoebe Adele Gates and Rory John Gates

How Did He Meet His Wife Melinda

They met in 1987 when Melinda Joined Microsoft as a product manager. In an interview with NPR Melinda said that he asked her if she was busy two weeks from now. How would she know if she was going to be busy two weeks from that night?  

She replied to him saying she had no idea of what she’ll be doing In two weeks and that the Billionaire was not too spontaneous for her. He wasn’t a billionaire then anyway. Melinda later gave him her number and asked him to give her a call close to the day he wanted to take her out instead of asking her two weeks before because plans might pop up. She stated that Instead of him calling her when she asked, he called her the same night and asked if calling was spontaneous enough for her. Of course, it was because they ended up dating and getting married. 

The two dated for seven years before they got married and Melinda stated that her mum didn’t like the idea of dating the CEO. Bill Gates said in the 2019 Netflix miniseries, Inside Bill’s Brain that at first, they were not serious. He stated that Melinda had boyfriends and he had Microsoft so they were going to be too busy to be serious. 

From an Unserious Relationship to an Engagement

The two finally got engaged when the love became serious and after the engagement, they travelled to Africa in 1993. When they arrived in Africa they saw what poverty looked like. While on a walk in Zanzibar, they started to talk about how they could use their fortune to help people and that is where the popular foundation, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation came about. Melinda said this while talking to TED in an interview.

“It’s not fair that we have so much wealth when billions of others have so little.” 

A Billionaire’s Wedding

According to Forbes, their event cost US$1 million. They tied the knot in 1994 at a Hawaiian destination wedding, by the “par-three 12th hole” on the property golf course. On the wedding day, Bill Gate booked all the rooms in the hotel and all the helicopters on the island of Maui to prevent unwanted visitors from coming.

The next year, the couples completed their home, nicknamed, Xanadu 2.0, in Medina, Washington.

In 1996, the couple welcomed their first child. 

Baby Gates

Their first child, a girl, is Jennifer. In 1999, they had a son called Rory and in 2002, they had a daughter called Phoebe. Bill and Melinda never allowed their children to own a phone up until they were fourteen years even with all the money? They brought up their children modestly and religiously. While speaking to Rolling Stone, Bill Gates said that he trained his children in the Catholic church his wife attended and he participated in. 

“We’ve raised our kids in a religious way,” he said. “They’ve gone to the Catholic Church that Melinda goes to and I participate in.”

Life After

Melinda eventually stopped working at Microsoft after nine years but she continued to work closely with her husband for their foundation. She was the co-founder. Over time, Melinda stated that the relationship between her and her husband started to change. 

“We’ve had to change to really be coequals,” she said. “It’s not something that immediately happens overnight, but we’re both committed to it.”

Melinda talked about how they did the dishes together and how Bill helps ease her workload on her. In the 2018 annual newsletter when asked about how they settled disagreement, she replied that they do not disagree. 

A Billionaire’s Divorce

On the 3rd of May 2021, the philanthropist took to his Twitter page to announce the divorce of him and his wife. In August, three months after their split news, the pair finalized their divorce. Their daughter, Jennifer also confirmed it and said she was taking time to process the news and people’s kind words and prayers meant a lot to her. 

Why Did They Divorce?

In 2019, news came up about Bill Gates cheating on his wife with another worker at Microsoft since 2000 in a letter. The letter was written by the supposed woman herself who was a Microsoft engineer and claimed she had a sexual relationship with the Father of three.

According to Melinda, Infidelity wasn’t only the case. She said she believes in forgiveness so she believed they worked through some of that. She said this during an interview with CBS Morning. Melinda stated that it was not just one event that happened and that it was just a time when she felt the relationship was unhealthy and she couldn’t trust what she and her now ex-husband had. 

“It wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened. 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 added that one of the other reasons she divorced was when her husband became involved with Jeffery Epstein. She said she had met Jeff one time and she knew the kind of person he was. She described him as ‘awful’ and told Bill how she felt. Unfortunately, he still kept his relationship with him. 

In a statement to CBS, Bill Gates said he regrets meeting Epstein and it was a big mistake. 

Moving On

During an appearance on Today, the billionaire opens up about how sad and tragic his marriage ended. He said he fully takes responsibility for the divorce and he is extremely sorry for the pain he has caused his entire family. 

The divorce is definitely a sad thing. I have responsibility for causing a lot of pain to my family. It was a tough year. I feel good that all of us are moving forward now,” the billionaire explained in May 2022.

When asked if he thinks his infidelity played a part in his divorce, Bill replied, “I certainly made mistakes and I take responsibility. I don’t think delving into the particulars at this point is constructive, but yes I caused pain and I feel terrible about that.”

Lessons Learnt

1. Infidelity will take you nowhere. Focus on your family and be content with your partner. 

2. Money can’t buy love: No matter the money you have, you can be walked out on if you misbehave and hurt the other person’s feelings. Only people who married you for money will watch you disrespect them and stay. That’s not love. 

Melinda is still involved in the foundation and her children are doing well. Jennifer is pursuing a medical degree and is a Stanford University graduate, Rory is following his Mum’s footsteps as he studied computing at Duke University and Phoebe reportedly followed Jennifer to Stanford.