Bill Gates Gets Honest About Divorce One Year Later: 'I Wouldn't Choose to Marry Someone Else'It's been about exactly one year to the day since billionaire Bill Gates and philanthropist Melinda French announced that they would be ending their marriage after 27 years.
ByEmily Rella•
It's been aboutexactly one yearto the day since billionaireBill Gatesand philanthropistMelinda Frenchannounced that they would be结束他们的marriage after 27 years andthree childrentogether.
"After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," the couple said in ajoint statementat the time. "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."
Gates reflected back on this time last year and the past 12 months of change in a new interview withThe Timeswhere he addressed his divorce from Melinda, point out that marriages are "complex" though he looks back on his former union as a "great marriage."
"We grew up together. When I got married, yeah, Microsoft was a big deal. But I was a young 38-year-old and she was a mature 28-year old, and over those next few years, in terms of what we learnt together, what went well, what didn't go well … that's more than half my adult life," Gates toldThe Times."We did a lot together."
Related:Bill Gates and Melinda French officially divorce
Still, the Microsoft founder maintains that he wouldn't have done it any differently.
"Every marriage as the kids leave the house will go through a transition. Mine sadly went through this transition called divorce," hesaidbluntly. "I wouldn't have changed it. You know, I wouldn't choose to marry someone else … Yes. I'm talking about would I marry Melinda all over again."
他解释说,the pair "spent some time coming up with a fair settlement," while noting that regardless of what the outcome was, monetary gains were not what the couple really cared about splitting, but that the focus was on philanthropic efforts.
"It was about the causes," he saidregarding the settlement.
The two currently run theBill and Melinda Gates Foundationtogether, something that the two have handled in stride in the year since the divorce, including co-hosting annual meetings and continuing to push their philanthropic efforts forward.
"We have a … super important, complex, close relationship where we've chosen to work together," Gatessaid. "I feel lucky that I get to work with her."
Related:Melinda French Gates Gets Emotional About 'Painful' Divorce From Ex-Husband Bill Gates
This isn't the first Gates has publicly spoken of his divorce, but perhaps the most positive in tone.
In anAugust 2021 interviewwith Anderson Cooper, the billionaire emotionally said that his divorce was a "source of great personal sadness" before penning more of his emotions in an end-of-year letter months later where he spoke about empty nesting and his adjustment to what he called " the most unusual and difficult year."
"Adapting to change is never easy, no matter what it is," Gateswrote. "I've been impressed by how resilient my loved ones — especially my kids — have been in this challenging time."
As for where the two stand now, Gates said he considers his ex-wife to be a friend even thoughhe notedthat "in an interview [Melinda] chose not to use that word."
The interview in reference was French'ssit-down interviewwith Gayle King in March where she noted that she was hesitant to use the F-word when talking about her current relationship with her ex-husband.
"It wasn't one moment or one specific thing that happened," Frenchsaid in referenceto the split. "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."
According to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, Bill Gatesis worth$125 billion. Melinda Frenchis worth$11.1 billion per the same data.
