Melinda Gates, ex-wife of Bill Gates, appeared on a podcast and opened up about her separation from the Microsoft co-founder.
The two, who were married for 27 years, separated in 2021 after Melinda filed for divorce. She said she made this decision after she started hearing an “inner voice” telling her that things were no longer good between them.
“When that voice came up — and it came at different times because of things that happened outside the marriage and that I would later discover — I kept rejecting it,” Melinda explained on Elizabeth Day’s How To Fail podcast.
Even trying to ignore the feeling, she explained that the voice started getting louder and louder. “At some point I had to turn to it, and I just knew it, and I knew it in my soul.”
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Melinda explained that she had to stop and reflect on what it would be like if they separated, especially considering the couple’s three children, Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe, and the philanthropic work they both did together at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
It took her a long time to decide to end the marriage, an institution she said she took “very seriously.” When they divorced, they explained they could no longer “grow together as a couple in this next phase of life.”
After the separation, Melinda began a relationship with another entrepreneur, Philip Vaughn, while Bill is currently dating Paula Hurd, widow of Mark Hurd, former CEO of Oracle.
Photo and video: YouTube @HowToFailPodcast. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
