Melinda Gates Explains Why She Divorced Bill In First Televised Interview

Melinda Gates has explained why she split from her former husband Bill Gates in her first televised interview since the divorce.

They spent 34 years together and 27 of them married after the couple decided to divorce last year (3 May 2021).

Bill was being investigated over an affair with a colleague at Microsoft.

At the time, Microsoft said it was conducting a 'thorough investigation'.

The co-founder of the company then opted to step down from the board in March 2020 after his affair was revealed publicly. 

Melinda confirmed Bill had an affair on CBS Mornings and the billionaire philanthropist says the 'trust' they had was gone, despite initially forgiving him.

CBS

"Well, I certainly believe in forgiveness, so I thought we had worked through some of that," the 57-year-old said.

"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."

"I think it's really important to say look, I had a lot of tears for many days," Melinda confessed.

"Days where I'm literally lying on the floor, the carpet this close to me, thinking 'How can this be? How can I get up? How am I going to move forward?'"

"And days I certainly was angry — that's part of the grieving process. You're grieving a loss of something you thought you had, and thought you had for your lifetime. I mean, this is painful stuff."

CBS

She added: "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.

"And I do feel like I'm turning a page in the chapter now. I mean, it's 2022, and I'm actually real excited about what's to come in life ahead for me."

After Bill's resignation, a spokesperson said the affair ended 'amicably' and was not the reason behind his resignation from the board. 

The spokeswoman said: "There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably. 

"Bill's decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter. In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier."

Alamy

They said: "Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000.

"A committee of the board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm, to conduct a thorough investigation.

"Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern."