Melinda French Gates on working with Bill through 'unbelieveably painful' divorce
Melinda French Gates has spoken of her "unbelievably painful" divorce from Microsoft founder Bill Gates, saying she "just couldn't stay in the marriage anymore."
French Gates, 58, opened up in the latest edition of Fortune magazine, explaining the pandemic gave her the privacy to "do what I needed to do" during that difficult time.
"It's unbelievably painful, in innumerable ways, but I had the privacy to get through it," she said.
French Gates spoke of the difficulty of continuing her work with her ex-husband via their charitable organisation, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
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Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. AP
"I kept working with the person I was moving away from, and I needed to show up and be my best self every single day," she explained.
"So even though I might be crying at 9am and then have to be on a video conference at 10am with the person I'm leaving, I have to show up and be my best."
She spoke of the work the foundation does and how this gave her purpose.
"I kept working with the person I was moving away from." AP
"We work with unbelievable partners around the world who were also struggling during COVID," she said.
Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. They share three children – Jennifer, 25, Rory, 23, and Phoebe, 19.
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To this day, the pair continue their work for the foundation. Getty Images for Gates Archive
French Gates previously discussed the personal toll of ending her marriage to the Microsoft founder in a new interview with USA Today, which named her among its 'Women of the Year'.
The $167 billion divorce was one of the most expensive in history.
"We all have low moments. I would say probably, though, for sure, my lowest moment in life was when I finally reached the decision that I knew I needed to leave my marriage," she said.
French Gates has since opened up about her reasons for leaving the relationship. AP
During an exclusive interview in 2021 with Gayle King for CBS Mornings, French Gates spoke of her reasons for leaving the marriage.
"It wasn't one moment or one specific thing that happened. There just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realised it just wasn't healthy, and I couldn't trust what we had," French Gates said.
King then asked French Gates if, once trust is broken, it is hard to get back, to which French Gates responded: "Very, it's very hard to get it back, in any relationship."
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