Melinda and Bill gates, a billion dollar love story!

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates have announced that they were getting divorced after 27 years of marriage, though in a joint statement they said that they will continue to work together at their foundation. The couple met in the late 1980s when Melinda joined Microsoft. They dated for a few years before marrying in January 1994 in Hawaii.

Gates dropped out of Harvard University to start Microsoft with school chum Paul Allen in 1975. Gates owned 49% of Microsoft at its initial public offering in 1986, which made him an instant multimillionaire. With Microsoft's explosive growth, he soon became one of the world's wealthiest individuals. Gates stepped down as CEO of Microsoft in 2000 to focus on philanthropy. He remained chairman until 2014 and left the company's board in March 2020.

Melinda French Gates, who recently added her maiden name on most of her websites and social media, was raised in Dallas and studied computer science and economics at Duke University before joining Microsoft.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) was founded by Bill Gates and his (now ex) wife Melinda Gates in the year 2000. It world's largest private charity foundation. "We share two values that are a big part of why we started our foundation. Both of us were taught to give back and to be optimistic about the future," reads the foundation's message by Bill & Melinda. “Our foundation has spent $53.8 billion since 2000, and we think that’s helped our partners make a difference,” the message further reads.

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) was founded with the primary goals to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty across the globe. The foundation is controlled by its three trustees: Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett, who is also a very good friend of the couple.

As of December 2020, the Foundation Committed $1.75 Billion to COVID-19 Pandemic Response. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the foundation committed a total of $1.75 billion to accelerate development and equitable distribution of COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.