At the top of Bill Gates’s list of regrets sits his divorce with Melinda French Gates and the circumstances surrounding it — but netizens are showing him no mercy.
The Former CEO of Microsoft opened up in an interview with The Sunday Times this past weekend and said that while he is “more cheerful now,” the unraveling of his 2021 separation with his ex-wife will continue to haunt him.
Bill Gates claims his divorce with ex-wife Melinda is at the mistake he regrets the most
Image credits: Frederic Stevens / Getty
“That was the mistake I most regret,” he admitted. And though there have been other decisions he isn’t particularly proud of, their break-up is “at the top of the list.”
“There are others but none that matter,” Gates continued. “The divorce thing was miserable for me and Melinda for at least two years.”
The billionaire never gave a solid reason on why he and his former wife separated, but he did confess in 2021 that he’d had an affair with an employee during his marriage.
Image credits: thisisbillgates
Still, he and his wife — who are both seeing other people now — seem to maintain a somewhat friendly relationship with one another.
“Melinda and I still see each other — we have three kids and two grandchildren so there are family events,” he said. “The kids are doing well. They have good values.”
But while the philanthropist seems to have cleared her ex-husband from her immediate hit list, users on the Internet weren’t so forgiving.
The billionaire had an affair with an employee while still being married to Melinda
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“Wait, he thinks divorcing her was the biggest mistake,” one person wrote. “Not the fact that he cheated on her? He doesn’t regret that? Wow!”
Another echoed, “Out of all the horrible things this man has done that’s what he regrets the most?”
“Feels a bit narcissistic,” penned a third. “The divorce itself is not the biggest regret. Just own up to your actions/behavior dawg!!”
“Maybe don’t cheat on your spouse,” suggested a user.
Image credits: Melinda French Gates
“Not all the trips to Epstein island?” one person asked.
“Can someone please tell him SHE divorced him,” someone emphasized.
And, according to Melinda herself, this last claim has some truth to it.
As reported by Independent, before the 69-year-old split from his wife, he’d met convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein — who took his own life in a Manhattan correctional facility in 2019 — a handful of times.
But Bill never confirmed whether he was the one to divorce from Melinda — and comments emphasize that it was her choice instead
Image credits: thisisbillgates
The billionaire claimed they were only talking about global health initiatives, but he quickly halted the meetings when he began to realize that Epstein’s promises were not something he could trust.
In 2022, Melinda cited these interactions as a huge reason for their divorce, as she talked to CBS Mornings’ anchor Gayle King.
Image credits: Steve Granitz / Getty
“I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein. I made that clear to him,” she stated. “I also met Jeffrey Epstein exactly one time. I wanted to see who this man was and I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door,” adding that she had gotten “nightmares” after seeing him.
After a while, Melinda realized that her relationship with Bill was starting to deteriorate and that she needed to step in before it was too late.
Jeffrey Epstein’s interactions with Bill was a huge reason why Melinda felt their relationship was in a bad place
Image credits: Victor Malafronte / Getty
“It wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened,” she revealed. “There just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realized it just wasn’t healthy and I couldn’t trust what we had.”
And, as Bill mentioned, the realization was heartbreaking for Melinda.
There were days full of many “tears” as she questioned herself: “How can this be? How can I get up? How am I gonna move forward?”
Image credits: Melinda French Gates
“You’re grieving a loss of something you thought you had and thought you had for your lifetime. I mean, this is painful stuff,” the philanthropist said. “At the end of the day though, I started on this journey of healing and I feel like I’m starting to get to the other side.”
On a more hopeful note, she added, “I’m actually really excited about what’s to come and life ahead for me.”
The two are now seeing other people
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Bill and Melinda married back in 1994 and share three kids together: Jennifer, 28, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 22. The couple confirmed their split in May 2021, according to Page Six, but had been separated for a year before the announcement.
Comments were merciless as they slammed the former CEO
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