*Eldest child Jennifer reacts
*Bloomberg delists Gates from billionaires’ index
The Co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft, Bill Gates, announced Monday that he and his wife Melinda will be splitting up after 27 years of marriage.
Gates owns 1.37 per cent of Microsoft’s outstanding shares, which are worth more than $26 billion.
His net worth is $130.5billion, according to Forbes, and he has donated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the Gates Foundation.
Gates broke the news via his verified Twitter handle @BillGates, stunning his 54.7million followers.
He tweeted: “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage.
“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.”
Last year, Gates stepped down from Microsoft’s board and began spending more time on the nonprofit Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation alongside Melinda.
The two are co-chairs and trustees of the foundation, which launched in 2000.
Bill and Melinda met at Microsoft while she had been a marketing manager at the software company.
The announcement comes two years after Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he and his wife, MacKenzie, were getting divorced.
Gates and Bezos are among the world’s richest people, and Amazon and Microsoft compete in the cloud computing business.
Bezos split his $150billion fortune with MacKenzie in 2019 after his affair with Lauren Sanchez was revealed.
The Gates are remarkably philanthropic, giving away vast amounts of their fortune.
They, unlike Bezos, are both part of The Giving Pledge – a collection of the world’s richest people who have all vowed to devote at least half of their fortunes to charity.
Their oldest child, Jennifer, has, expectedly, bared her mind on the issue.
The 25-year-old revealed that the family has been going through a ‘challenging stretch of time’ ever since the couple mooted the idea.
Jennifer Gates
She discussed the pain of watching her parents’ split via her official Instagram page.
She said: “I’m still learning how to best support my own process and emotions as well as my family members at this time and am grateful for the space to do so,” she wrote.
In the order of maturity, Jennifer is followed by Rory, 21, and 18-year-old Phoebe.
Meanwhile, following the announcement, Bloomberg delisted Gates from its billionaire index, where he usually hovers in the top four spots.
As of May 2, 2021, Gates was fourth on the index with a net worth of $145 billion, having gained over $13 billion in 2021 alone.
In 1987, an unmarried Gates became the youngest American Billionaire, a record he held until Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder came to the billionaire status in 2007.
Gates got married to Melinda in 1994, after Bill was already named the richest man in America. They have three children together.
Forbes’ real-time billionaire list still has Gates at number four with a wealth of $130 billion.
The divorce is expected to affect their wealth, but the extent to which this will happen is yet to be known.
Bill had previously said Melinda is a “truly equal partner”. This may have equal consequences on his wealth in the days ahead.
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