Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates have gotten divorced after 27 years of marriage. A Monday filing with the King County Superior Court in Washington made the move official, three months after the couple announced their plan to split up.
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates were among the most prominent couples in global business, having once worked together. They traveled together and participated in joint media interviews. Melinda French Gates had been uncomfortable with her husband’s connection with billionaire investor Jeffrey Epstein, and after media outlets published details of the bond between the two men, she hired divorce lawyers, The New York Times reported in May.
Monday’s filing says neither spouse asked for a name change, but it doesn’t give insight into everything that will be changing. A separation contract was not filed with the court.
While the two have agreed to keep working together on philanthropy, it’s possible that collaboration will also end along with the marriage. Last month the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where the two are co-chairs and trustees, said Melinda French Gates will resign if after two years either of the two concludes that they cannot work together.
Bill Gates started Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975 and Gates served as CEO, and Melinda French Gates worked at Microsoft from 1987 to 1996. The two met in 1987 and were married in 1994, and their foundation launched in 2000.
