Melinda French Gates has spoken publicly about her divorce from Bill Gates, claiming that while she and the Microsoft co-founder are "friendly at this time," she is not ready to call their relationship "friends."
In a recent interview with CBS' Gayle King, French Gates explained that the couple's high-profile divorce last May after 27 years of marriage was due to a number of circumstances.
"It wasn't a single event or a single item that happened. It just got to the point where there was enough there that I understood it wasn't good for me. "I couldn't put my faith in what we had," the donor added.
French Gates admitted that she cried a lot during her marriage, and that she did it while lying on the floor. "How am I going to get up?" She stated she would question herself, "How am I going to move?"
"I poured every ounce of myself into this marriage." "I was dedicated to this marriage from the day we got engaged to the day I got out of it... but I also think society used to blame women for things," she remarked. "I done nothing wrong, so I'm proud of myself."
Gates admitted to having an affair with a Microsoft employee in 2021, and Microsoft asked its board of directors to look into it shortly before his resignation from the board in 2020.
"Almost 20 years ago, there was an affair that ended amicably," Gates' spokesman Bridgitt Arnold stated.
French Gates claimed she "definitely believe[s] in forgiveness, and so I thought we had worked through part of that" when asked about the affair.
"You know, I believe those are concerns Bill needs to answer," French Gates replied when asked about a report that Gates had several affairs.
Bill Gates' regular encounters with businessman and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, she claimed, contributed to the divorce. "I didn't like that he met with Jeffrey Epstein," she stated. That was made obvious to him."
"I wanted to see who this man was," she said, "and I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door."
"He was repulsive, the embodiment of evil. After that, I had nightmares about it," French Gates recalled.
"Any of the questions left regarding Bill's relationship... those are for Bill to explain," she stated when asked about Gates' repeated meetings with Epstein despite her objections.
French Gates has stated that she will continue to work with her ex-husband at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which they co-founded over 20 years ago.
"We definitely have a working connection, and at this point, I'd say we're friendly," she remarked.
"Do you have any friends?" King inquired.
"Friends is a different word for me," French Gates said. That might happen in time, but for me, there's still a lot of mending to do."
She stated that she is willing to fall in love and date once more. "I'm hoping it occurs again for me." "I'm just dipping my toe in the water," she explained.
The Gates Foundation, one of the world's largest philanthropic organizations, revealed last month that French Gates would no longer be directing the majority of her income via it.
"I believe that philanthropy is most effective when it stresses flexibility over orthodoxy - which is why, in my work at the foundation and at Pivotal Ventures, I'll continue to seek out fresh partners, ideas, and perspectives," French Gates wrote.
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