Melinda Gates has written a scorching essay explaining her reasons for stepping down from the Bill Gates Foundation to start her own charity.
The philanthropist, 59, announced her departure from the Bill Gates Foundation earlier this month, revealing she would get $12.5 billion as part of the deal with her Microsoft founder ex-husband.
In a New York Times opinion piece, Melinda said that she’s leaving the foundation she co-founded in order to focus on her own agenda, which has gender equality as a top priority.
‘In nearly 20 years as an advocate for women and girls, I have learned that there will always be people who say it’s not the right time to talk about gender equality,’ she wrote.
‘Not if you want to be relevant. Not if you want to be effective with world leaders (most of them men). The second the global agenda gets crowded, women and girls fall off.
Melinda Gates has written a scorching essay explaining her reasons for stepping down from the Bill Gates Foundation to start her own charity
‘It’s frustrating and shortsighted… For too long, a lack of money has forced organizations fighting for women’s rights into a defensive posture while the enemies of progress play offense. I want to help even the match.’
Melinda goes on to say that women and girls across the world and in the US face more threats to their freedoms than they have in a generation, citing the end of Roe V Wade, which protected abortion rights federally.
‘As shocking as it is to contemplate, my 1-year-old granddaughter may grow up with fewer rights than I had,’ the mother-of-three said.
The philanthropist said her new charity will be giving $1billion to the National Women’s Law Center, the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Melinda has also offered 12 people their own $20million grant0making fund to do as they wish. The grantees include former prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern and Afghan champion of girls’ education, Shabana Basij-Rasikh.
The couple are pictured with their three kids in a 2019 family photo. The kids – Jennifer (center), Rory (right) and Phoebe (left) are now aged 25, 21 and 18
With a joint fortune of $130 billion at their peak, the Gates were among the world’s richest couples until they divorced in August 2021
‘I’m eager to see the landscape of funding opportunities through their eyes, and the results their approaches unlock,’ Melinda wrote.
With a joint fortune of $130 billion at their peak, the Gates were among the world’s richest couples until they divorced in August 2021 after Melinda said their marriage had been ‘irretrievably broken.’
The Gates’ foundation is the world’s largest private charitable foundation, with an endowment of $75.2 billion as of December 2023 according to its website.
Bill and Melinda met in 1987 – the same year he became the world’s youngest billionaire at the age of 31.
They went on to marry in Hawaii in 1994, and have three children together: Jennifer, 28, Rory, 24, and Phoebe, 21.
Their divorce came amid rumors about Gates’ checkered love life after it emerged he had an affair with a Russian bridge player, and that Jeffrey Epstein had tried to ‘extort’ him over the relationship.
The Microsoft founder claims he never had any business relationship or friendship with Epstein, and their meetings were solely to discuss philanthropic ventures.
Bill and Melinda met in 1987 – the same year he became the world’s youngest billionaire at the age of 31. They are pictured in 1995
Their divorce came amid rumors about Gates’ checkered love life after it emerged he had an affair with a Russian bridge player, and that Jeffrey Epstein had tried to ‘extort’ him over the relationship.
He is dating philanthropist Paula Hurd, 60. They were last seen together at the Academy Museum for Motion Pictures in Los Angeles for a black tie event celebrating major scientific achievements of the year.
Melinda’s op-ed comes after she fueled romance rumors when she stepped out donning a blinding diamond ring, prompting many to question whether she was planning to walk down the aisle with her former Fox News anchor boyfriend Jon Du Pre, who she was first linked with back in 2022.
But the billionaire philanthropist quick shut down any suggestion that she and Jon, 65, are headed for the altar when she addressed the speculation in a statement via her rep this morning, confirming that the pair have broken up – and insisting that she is not currently engaged to anyone.
