Melinda Gates opens up on 'unbelievably painful' divorce with Bill Gate

Melinda French Gates says her divorce from ex-husband Bill Gates was “unbelievably painful.”

The philanthropist, 58, opened up about her split from the 66-year-old Microsoft co-founder in an interview with Fortune magazine published Monday, more than a year after their divorce was finalized in August 2021.

The couple filed for divorce in May 2021 after 27 years of marriage.

“I had some reasons I just couldn’t stay in that marriage anymore,” French Gates said in the interview. “But the odd thing about COVID is that it gave me the privacy to do what I needed to do.”

She added, “It’s unbelievably painful, in innumerable ways, but I had the privacy to get through it.”

French Gates has three children with her ex-husband: Jennifer, 25, Rory, 23, and Phoebe, 19.