Shocking claims emerge about Bill and Melinda Gates' divorce
Though they only announced their divorce this week, Bill and Melinda Gates’ marriage breakdown has reportedly been “a long time in the making”, with the family “furious” at Mr Gates.
Earlier this week the pair posted identical tweets to announce the Microsoft co-founder and his wife had made the decision to end their marriage of 27 years.
But new information leaked to TMZ reveals the couple's split is "not friendly" and the pair had originally planned to announce their divorce in March.
During that week, Melinda had rented an entire island to get away with the family - without Bill.
She had reportedly booked Calivigny Island in Grenada for A$170,000 per night and planned to stay there to avoid media attention during the scheduled announcement in March.
The whole family was planning to attend too, and according to TMZ’s source everyone was “furious at Bill for various things they claim he had done”.
“There was a considerable amount of acrimony associated with the split and we're told virtually everyone in the family took Melinda's side,” the publication wrote.
“Another way of putting it ... we're told they were very angry at Bill, and that's why he wasn't invited.”
While the divorce announcement didn’t go ahead in March, Melinda and the family reportedly decided to go anyway.
The announcement delay was due to outstanding issues with the divorce settlement that couldn’t be resolved before the trip, the source claimed.
Couple will continue to work together in huge foundation
In their divorce announcement, the couple said they would continue to work together at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The huge Seattle-based foundation is easily the most influential private foundation in the world, with an endowment worth nearly $US50 billion ($A64 billion).
— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 3, 2021
Bill was formerly the world’s richest person and his fortune is estimated at well over $100 billion.
The couple were married in 1994 in Hawaii. They met after Melinda began working at Microsoft as a product manager in 1987.
“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,” they said in the statement.
“We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”
with AAP
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