Melinda French Gates – as she’s now styling herself post-divorce – has given an interview to CBS, which airs today. Melinda filed for divorce from Bill Gates in early May 2021. Almost three months later, they finalized their divorce with an undisclosed financial and real estate settlement. Some people suggested that Melinda got half of their fortune, something like $65 billion. Doubtful, although she absolutely got more money because of all of the negative, horrible sh-t that came out about Bill during those three months. She also got a continued seat at the joint foundation for two years, after which they’ll have to decide whether or not they want to separate their foundation in some way. Anyway, now that everything’s done and dusted on the divorce, Melinda seems ready to relaunch herself as some kind of Mackenzie Scott-type figure, a billionaire divorcee focused on doing good works. Some quotes from Melinda’s first post-divorce interview:
On her divorce: Melinda said that there “wasn’t one moment” that led to their split. During the interview, Melinda was asked about the affair Bill had with a staffer 20 years ago, which a spokesperson for the Microsoft co-founder confirmed last May. “I certainly believe in forgiveness, so I thought we had worked through some of that… 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 realized it just wasn’t healthy, and I couldn’t trust what we had.”
She was angry & sad: Melinda told CBS’ Gayle King that she cried “a lot of tears for many days.” Other times, Melinda recalled feeling 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.”
Healing: Now, Melinda says she feels like she’s “starting to get to the other side” on her “journey of healing.” “I do feel like I’m turning a page in the chapter. I mean, it’s 2022 and I’m actually really excited about what’s to come and life ahead for me.”
As you can see in the video below, Gayle King points out that they didn’t solely talk about the divorce, there was also a lot of talk about the Gates Foundation and Melinda’s more woman-focused charitable work. Again, Mackenzie Scott has all of these billionaire divorcees shook. Mackenzie was clearly the wronged woman in her divorce from Jeff Bezos, but she didn’t give tearful interviews about it or show up to a nightclub on Pete Davidson’s arm. No, she just quietly got billions of dollars and she’s giving it all away in really thoughtful ways with little fanfare. It’s badass as hell. Anyway, we’ll see what Melinda does now.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, CBS.
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- Melinda Gates NEWS : 2nd edition of the Bercy meetings – Paris – 01/22/2019,Image: 535170922, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Stephen Caillet / Panoramic / Avalon
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- (190213) — KIRKLAND (U.S.), Feb. 13, 2019 () — Photo provided by Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation shows that Bill Gates (R) and Melinda Gates pose for a photo after annotating the 2019 annual letter in Kirkland, Washington, the United States, on Jan. 8, 2019. Bill and Melinda Gates released their 2019 annual letter on Feb. 12 and a video speech was exclusively broadcast via . Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said Tuesday that exciting progress against poverty and disease around the world has been made in 2018, and China has been a major contributor to this progress. Bill Gates has called for strengthened investment in innovation in key areas so that related industries can continue to develop without worsening climate change. In their 2019 annual letter, Bill and Melinda Gates shared nine things that have surprised them over the course of their nearly two decades of work together in global health and development. (),Image: 535312804, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS excluding China – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Xinhua / Avalon
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- Melinda Gates NEWS : G7 Finance – make capitalism fairer – Chantilly – 18/07/2019,Image: 536682488, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Michael Baucher / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Melinda Gates NEWS : G7 Finance – make capitalism fairer – Chantilly – 18/07/2019,Image: 536682700, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Michael Baucher / Panoramic / Avalon
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- Melinda GATES – Appel de Paris pour la sante des femmes et des enfants dans le monde – 14 octobre 2014 – Mairie de Paris – FRANCE,Image: 554764889, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: UK and USA ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Jean-Claude Cohen / VISUAL Press Agency / Avalon
Yeah Mackenzie Scott is the best. I just hope Melinda, whatever she does, stays out of public health.
I thought the actual divorce filing was just a formality. I either read it heard that there was a separation agreement in place for quite a while and they were just coasting until their youngest was 18 and finishing high school. I got the impression that their marriage had been in trouble for a long time.
The thumbnail photo made me look twice, I thought it was Caitlyn Jenner without Botox 🤣.. I may need to make an eye appointment 🤓🧐🤨
Ahah I thought the same !
Her tears are worth way more than ours . Were they diamonds or Swarovski crystals? I wouldn’t be surprised if Bill had affairs plural, especially if he was asking employees out, and his association with Epstein was just boneheaded. She can do a lot with those billions. Anyway, here’s to a happy next chapter for Ms. Gates.
*pinches bridge of nose* I’m sure the divorce was painful & I hope Melinda gives away tons of money to organizations like Mackenzie has done.
But this is really not about an affair 20 years ago. I think it’s clear Bill was having affairs at work for years & worse, he was very caught up in Epstein’s orbit, which I think Melinda was at least somewhat aware of (after all, she visited his place in NYC). To me, Melinda seems like Fergie with money. Hopefully, she does some good with it.
Exactly, the affair(s) didn’t cause the divorce, it was his connection with Epstein. At the time, it was apparent that she thought Bill would be directly implicated or exposed for something relating to his …activities with Epstein and she filed for divorce in an effort to separate herself from the mess. The PR machinations around the divorce announcement included statements directly from her about how shocked she was re: Epstein and her husband, etc etc. It’s clear she thought he’d be in the same boat as Prince Andrew and wanted to get out of there before she sunk with them. The affair reasoning is revisionist history. What’s interesting to me is, the Bill Gates-Epstein shoe never really dropped, or at least it hasn’t yet.
Exactly. This is all a massive PR machination, and pretty transparent.
y’all must have some psychic superpowers to be able to see into Melinda’s motivations, and know why and when she decided she needed out. she never gave a timeline. we don’t know if he repeatedly promised to change, or what really went down inside the relationship. we don’t know if they had disagreements about the foundation, or anything. they got married pretty young. a lot can happen in 20 years or whatever it was.
it’s clear she was waiting for the youngest kid to finish school. other than that, who knows what the final straw was, or how big the haystack had gotten when the Epstein shoe dropped. let’s give her a chance to show us who she is, when she’s not in the shadow of Mr Famous Techy Dude.
also what the hell does poor Pete Davidson have to do with this mess? are we supposed to think Melinda is another Kim K? the man has enough to deal with, with everything that’s actually going on. why snipe at him?
now, if it had said, “she wasn’t seen on the arm of some cheesy tv personality with bad plastic surgery” I could go along with that. = )
I think it doesn’t really make sense to compare how they’ll handle things post divorce. Melinda has been a public figure for a long time in a way Mackenzie wasn’t. It makes sense to me she will also be more public as she moves on.
Exactly. People grieve and go through things in different ways and money does not protect the heart. It helps lol but pain is pain and she’s used to never comprehending being without that security. I’d hate it if my reaction to a divorce was compared to someone else.
But dayyum that’s too much cash in one person’s hands. I’d be sitting there every single day finding the best ways to dispense it. I personally think the money is better off in her hands than his. Both she and MacKenzie seem more charitable.
I don’t know. To me, she’s not all that compelling. I think she knew who Bill was from the start, but once the kids were grown she washed her hands of it. She got her cake and eat it too.
Tears of relief, can’t say that life is easy to live
I like Melinda but don’t understand why she’s giving interviews. But perhaps we will know in the future, when she rolls out new initiatives.
I hope she can find a nice man to marry, as MacKenzie did. These billionaires are hard to live with.