Bill and Melinda Gates announced Monday that they have decided to get a divorce because they no longer believe that they can “grow together” as a couple.
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the two said in a 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 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,” the statement concluded. “We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”
Both Bill and Melinda Gates posted the joint statement on their Twitter accounts at the same time and blocked people from being able to respond to the tweet.
TMZ added:
Melinda filed, citing that the marriage is irretrievably broken. The doc asks the judge to rule the marriage ended “as of the date in the separation contract.” That contract is not included in the divorce filing, but they apparently separated at some point earlier and signed a document to that effect.
The divorce docs makes it clear there is no prenup. That’s because according to the filing, the only written agreement that they say pertains to the divorce is the separation agreement.
Not surprisingly, Melinda is not asking for any spousal support. They are asking for a trial date in April 2022, but almost certainly this will be settled without a trial.
During an interview with CNN last April, Bill Gates attacked the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic while praising communist China. “Well, I don’t think that’s a timely thing because it doesn’t affect how we act today,” Gates said. “China did a lot of things right at the beginning. Like any country where a virus first shows up, they can look back and see where they missed some things.”
“Some countries did respond very quickly and get their testing in place and they avoided the incredible economic pain, and it’s sad that even the U.S., that you would have expected to do this well, did it particularly poorly,” Gates claimed.
In an interview late last year, Melinda Gates said that she was “incredibly disappointed” that President Donald Trump signed an executive order that put Americans at the front of the line to receive coronavirus vaccines. “I’m much more optimistic about the president-elect and the COVID task force, this eminent task force that he has put together,” she added. “I think we’re going to see a lot more sensible policymaking in the United States, but that starts, you know, January 20 and we have still some dark months to live ahead until then.”
A couple of days later, Bill Gates, who is worth $118 billion, advocated for keeping bars and restaurants closed for months. Earlier this year, Bill Gates told Fox News that all greenhouse gas needed to be eliminated within the next three decades or else the world would be five times worse than the coronavirus pandemic.