Last week, Bill and Melinda Gates, the Microsoft power couple, officially filed for divorce. Their public statement, which was posted on their personal Twitter accounts, didn’t provide a reason for their separation.
New reports from the Wall Street Journal surfaced Sunday that Melinda met with a divorce attorney as early as 2019. Her visit with lawyers coincided with the news of Bill’s ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Reports from a former employee of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation claim that Melinda was concerned about her husband’s connection to Epstein as early as 2013.
Bill met with Epstein for philanthropic goals numerous times in 2011, after Epstein had been deemed a convicted sex offender.
In 2013, both Bill and Melinda met with Epstein. Melinda allegedly expressed discontent with the potential partnership. Melinda was absent from subsequent meetings with Bill, Epstein, and staff.
In a 2019 interview, Bill told the Journal that the goal of the meetings were philanthropic networking. He also mentioned that he didn’t maintain any business relationship or friendships with him.
It’s speculated that Melinda’s distaste of this relationship is at least one contributing factor to the divorce.
