Bill Gates’ Ex-Wife Breaks Silence After He Called Divorce a ‘Mistake’

It’s been a few months since Bill Gatesopened up about his divorce from his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, calling the decision to split one of the worst he has ever made.

In January, the Microsoft founder spoke to The Times about their divorce, telling the outlet, “That was the mistake I most regret.”The tech mogul said that the marriage “kept me grounded” and revealed, “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.”

The former couple announced they were ending their 27-year marriage back in 2021. Initially, there were plans to continue working together at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but French Gates resigned from her co-chair role in May 2024.

Now, French Gates is speaking candidly about the split, also with The Times. In an interview about her new memoir, The Next Day, French Gates shared that problems in her marriage reached a “fever pitch” in 2019, and in 2020, after taking a trip to try to save their marriage, French Gates told Gates he would have to move out of their home. “It was one of the scariest conversations I’d ever had,” she wrote in the memoir.

She told The Times that the divorce “was something that was necessary. If you can’t live your values out inside your most intimate relationship, it was necessary.” French Gates then addressed Gates’ statement about their split being a “mistake.”

“I don’t even quite know what to make of that statement, so I’m not going to comment on what he says. He’s got his own life. I have my life now. I am very happy,” she said.

I’ve just got to a point in life at 60 where I’ve been through a lot. I remember my mom said, after she crossed 60, ‘You know, I just find myself speaking my mind more. I go pick up at the dry cleaner and i tell them how they could be more efficient, you know?’ And I kind of feel like that. I’ve lived life now, right? Life has a lot of lessons for us. And they can be hard but they can also be beautiful,” French Gates noted.