Microsoft Founder’s Ex-Wife Resigns From Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Melinda French Gates said Monday she would resign as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that she has helped lead after about 24 years.

As part of her separation agreement from former husband and founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, Melinda said she will receive an additional $12.5 billion for her charitable work, saying she planned to focus her giving on groups that focus on women and families.

“This is not a decision I came to lightly,” she said in a statement posted on X. “I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world.”

Melinda French Gates said she planned to leave the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on June 7, and she will share more about her future charitable plans in the near future.