Melina French Gates has opened up about her divorce from her ex-husband, Bill Gates . French Gates spoke candidly about announcing her divorce in 2021, after 27 years of marriage , during an interview with Time , published on June 18. Speaking to the publication, she reflected on her life at home during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, which was when she and Gates were separating.
She acknowledged how grateful she was to have a private breakup, as it happened when two of their three children - Jennifer, 28, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 21 - were living with their parents full-time. “It gave us the privacy to do what needed to be done in private,” she said about going through the split during the pandemic. “You know, I separated first before I made the full decision about a divorce.
And to be able to do that in private while I’m still trying to take care of the kids, while still making certain decisions about how you’re going to disentangle your life - thank God.” French Gates, 59, was also asked if she was concerned if the divorce would affect her and her husband’s private charitable organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In response, she acknowledged that her split was ultimately “more of a personal thing.
” However, she noted that she still had both her organization and children on her mind at the time. “I thought a lot about my three children,” she said. “But I certainly thought about the effect on the foundation.
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