Bill Gates and Melinda Gates’ 27-year-long partnership in life, work and philanthropy

After 27 years of marriage, Bill and Melinda Gates have declared their intention to divorce, which has come as a shock to many. The two met, when Melinda started working at Bill's company, Microsoft, in 1987. According to reports, Melinda Gates was an employee of Microsoft where she met Bill Gates. They first met for a dinner in 1987 and later began dating leading to their marriage on New Year's Day in 1994.

“She had other boyfriends, and I had Microsoft,” Bill said in the 2019 Netflix miniseries Inside Bill’s Brain. “We were like, ‘Hey we are not really serious about each other, are we? We are not going to demand each other’s time.’” Bill eventually made a pro/con list on whether he should propose (really), and they agreed to start a life together after the relationship became serious. In 1994, Bill and Melinda married in Hawaii at a destination wedding.

Jennifer, the couple's first child, was born in 1996. Rory, the son, was born in 1999, and Phoebe, the daughter, was born in 2002. Melinda choose to leave her job to concentrate on raising her children.

Despite the fact that the mother of three left Microsoft after nine years to raise her kids, she continued to work with her husband. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was established in 1994, and the philanthropic organization — which focuses on global health, education, public library access to digital media, and support for at-risk families — is still going strong. “Working together as well as raising a family together, there’s a certain intensity to that. But we’re very lucky because we mostly see things the same way, the goals are very much the same,” Bill said in a 2019 Facebook Live.

Their charitable activities are well-publicized, and they, along with Bono in 2005, were called Time's Persons of the Year.

Melissa and Bill gave several interviews together when Melissa's book was published, showcasing the strength of their marriage. In a 2019 Facebook Live, Melinda said, "I'm always interested in his point of view, and I know he's always interested in mine," adding, "I think our differences sharpen the questions that we ask each other."

The couple cofounded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000, which has grown to become one of the world's largest charitable organizations. The foundation had a $46.8 billion endowment as of 2018.

The couple made a vow to donate a large portion of their money to charity over time. They agreed to donate at least half of their net worth to disaster relief, refugee assistance, girls' education, the arts, and other worthy causes when they signed the Giving Pledge in 2010. By August 2020, the Gates pair and fellow billionaire Warren Buffet had enlisted the help of 211 wealthy donors from all over the world.

More recently, the couple put an awful lot of effort in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, committing $1.75 billion through their foundation to research and vaccine distribution by December 2020.

The Microsoft cofounder's net worth is estimated to be $124 billion. Melinda has topped Forbes' annual list of influential figures on many occasions. It's uncertain if they signed a prenuptial agreement before their wedding.

Gates’ daughter Jennifer,25, is studying medicine at Stanford. The tech heiress commented on her parent’s divorce via an Instagram story: “It’s been a challenging stretch of time for our whole family,” she wrote in an Instagram Story at the time. “I’m still learning how to best support my own process and emotions as well as family members at this time, and am grateful for the space to do so. I won’t personally comment further on anything around the separation, but please know that your kind words and support mean the world to me.”

Bill Gates said on a Reddit Ask Me Anything segment In 2017 that his children would inherit only $10 million each, equivalent to less than 1 percent of his fortune. The Gates said he believed that leaving massive inheritance to children would not be favourable to them.

The couple said they would continue their joint work on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which funds programs in global health, gender equality, education and other causes. Bill and Melinda Gates are the second ultra-rich couple to split up in the US. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott divorced in 2019.