Melinda Gates has written a searing essay explaining her reasons for leaving the Bill Gates Foundation to start her own charity.
The philanthropist, 59, announced her departure from the Bill Gates Foundation earlier this month and revealed she would receive $12.5 billion as part of the deal with her ex-husband, the Microsoft founder.
In an op-ed in the New York Times, Melinda said she is leaving the foundation she co-founded to focus on her own agenda, which makes gender equality a top priority.
“In nearly two decades as an advocate for women and girls, I have learned that there will always be those who say this is 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). Once the global agenda becomes overcrowded, women and girls are left out.
Melinda Gates has written a searing essay explaining her reasons for leaving the Bill Gates Foundation to start her own charity
“It’s frustrating and short-sighted… For too long, a lack of funding has forced organizations fighting for women’s rights into a defensive posture while the enemies of progress take umbrage. I even want to help the game.”
Melinda goes on to say that women and girls around the world and in the US are facing more threats to their freedoms than they have in a generation, citing the end of Roe V Wade, which federally protected abortion rights.
“As shocking as it is to think about it, my one-year-old granddaughter could grow up with fewer rights than I did,” the mother of three said.
The philanthropist said her new charity will donate $1 billion 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 $20 million grant fund so they can do whatever they want. Beneficiaries include former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Afghan girls’ education campaigner Shabana Basij-Rasikh.
The couple are pictured with their three children in a 2019 family photo. The children – Jennifer (center), Rory (right) and Phoebe (left) are now 25, 21 and 18 years old
With a combined fortune of $130 billion at their peak, the Gates were among the richest couples in the world until they divorced in August 2021.
“I’d like to see the landscape of financing opportunities through their eyes, and the results their approach produces,” Melinda wrote.
With a combined fortune of $130 billion at their peak, the Gates were among the richest couples in the world until they divorced in August 2021 after Melinda said their marriage was “irretrievably broken.”
The Gates Foundation is the world’s largest private charitable foundation, with endowments 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 age 31.
They married in Hawaii in 1994 and have three children together: Jennifer, 28, Rory, 24, and Phoebe, 21.
Their divorce came amid rumors about Gates’ volatile love life after it emerged that he had an affair with a Russian bridge player and that Jeffrey Epstein had tried to blackmail him over the relationship.
The Microsoft founder claims he never had a business relationship or friendship with Epstein, and that 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 age 31. They are pictured in 1995.
Their divorce came amid rumors about Gates’ volatile love life after it emerged that he had an affair with a Russian bridge player and that Jeffrey Epstein had tried to blackmail him over the relationship.
He is in a relationship with 60-year-old philanthropist Paula Hurd. They were last seen together at the Academy Museum for Motion Pictures in Los Angeles during a black tie event celebrating the year’s major scientific achievements.
Melinda’s op-ed comes after she sparked romance rumors when she stepped out with a dazzling diamond ring, leaving many wondering if she was planning to walk down the aisle with her former Fox News host Jon Du Pre, whom she dated for was first associated. back in 2022.
But the billionaire philanthropist quickly shut down any suggestion she and 65-year-old Jon are headed to the altar as she addressed the speculation through her rep in a statement this morning, confirming the couple have split – and insisting that she currently does not. engaged to anyone.