Melinda Gates quits Gates Foundation after divorce from Microsoft billionaire

Melinda French Gates has resigned from the charity she set up with her billionaire husband Bill three years after the couple filed for divorce.

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Ms Gates said she will step down from her role as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on June 7.

She said: “This is not a decision I came to lightly. 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.

“I care deeply about the foundation team, our partners around the world, and everyone who is touched by its work.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Ms Gates will be handed $12.5bn (£10bn) for her work on behalf of women and families.

She added: “This is a critical moment for women and girls in the US and around the world – and those fighting to protect and advance equality are in urgent need of support.”

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which was founded in 2000, is one of the world’s largest private charitable foundations.

It is one of the most influential organisations in public health, having spent around $50bn over the past two decades to fight poverty and disease. The Telegraph’s global health security coverage is partly funded by the foundation.

Ms Gates’ departure from the charity she helped to set up with the Microsoft billionaire comes after the couple announced they were divorcing in 2021 after 27 years of marriage.

They had previously said they would continue their philanthropic work together.

Mr Gates has recently been rocked by revelations about his links to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Mr Epstein, who killed himself in jail in 2019, reportedly threatened to expose the tycoon over an alleged affair he had with a Russian bridge player in her 20s.

A spokesman for Bill Gates said in March last year: “Mr Gates met with Epstein solely for philanthropic purposes.

“Having failed repeatedly to draw Mr Gates beyond these matters, Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr Gates.”

She added: “Mr Gates had no financial dealings with Epstein.”

Mr Gates has said his calls and meetings with the disgraced financier were a mistake.

In her statement, Ms Gates said she had “full confidence” that the foundation was in good shape under the leadership of chief executive Mark Suzman.

She added: “The time is right for me to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy.”

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