Bill Gates: He’s had difficult months

Bill Gates
He has had difficult months

Bill Gates in France in 2018

© Frederic Legrand – COMEO / Shutterstock.com

Bill and Melinda Gates were married for 27 years. Now they are getting divorced. It has not been easy for him in the past few months.

Bill Gates is a very special person. However, the entrepreneur and programmer looks back on difficult months, even as one of the richest people in the world. It has now been announced that he and his wife Melinda Gates (56) are divorcing after around 27 years of marriage.

In one The two announced a joint statement on Twitter on May 3rd: “After careful consideration and a lot of work on our relationship, we made the decision to end our marriage.”

Microsoft made him a billionaire

Together with Paul Allen (1953-2018), Bill Gates founded Microsoft in April 1975. This should not only change their lives, but the world as well. Windows and Office have become an integral part of the office life of countless people. And Microsoft’s triumphant advance made Gates a billionaire.

The Business magazine “Forbes” leads him behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (57) and the entrepreneurs Bernard Arnault (72) and Elon Musk (49) in fourth place in the ranking of the richest people on the planet. Gates’ fortune is currently estimated at the equivalent of more than 108 billion euros.

His three children Phoebe (18), Rory (21) and Jennifer (25) should get almost none of the money. Many years ago it became known that he and his still-wife Melinda, with whom he has been married since 1994, only wanted to leave the children the equivalent of around 8.5 million euros each – i.e. a fraction of his fortune. In 2013 the entrepreneur said in an interview with “Bild am Sonntag” this decision: “My wife and I believe that you are doing your children a disservice by showering them with money that they have not earned themselves.”

The thing about the conspiracy theories

In 2008, Gates left the operational business of Microsoft to others. Since then he has mainly been active as a philanthropist, taking care of the well-being of other people. Together with the US investor Warren Buffett (90), who according to “Forbes” has an estimated fortune of around 87.5 million euros and is ranked sixth on the list, Gates started “The Giving Pledge” in 2010. The campaign aims to encourage wealthy people to do soto use a large part of their wealth for philanthropic purposes.

Many people seem to forget this when they talk about gates these days. Especially in connection with the corona pandemic, his name has been mentioned frequently in recent months – but rarely benevolently. Corona deniers, mask opponents and conspiracy theorists have made Gates the declared target for their sometimes confused claims.

For example, there are theories that Gates allegedly uses the virus as a pretext to have people implant microchips with which he can then control them. The “Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation”, a charitable foundation that he founded with his wife, is said to have financed the development of the coronavirus in order to later turn the pandemic into a business. In addition, he wants to limit the growth of the world population. And to top it all off, the philanthropist is also a secret opponent of vaccinations. At least he didn’t have his children vaccinated.

Gates and his wife donated a lot for the fight against Corona and Covid-19 alone. By May 2020, more were through their foundation than 300 million US dollars, the equivalent of almost 250 million euros, was distributed for this purpose. The Gates opponents are apparently of little interest – or they put allegedly secret motives together.

Gates lost his father last year

All of this surprises the entrepreneur and philanthropist. “I don’t plant microchips in anyone. I didn’t create the coronavirus. Our foundation wants to save lives,” explained Gates a few months ago in an interview with the “Spiegel”. That conspiracy theories were instead at the center “surprises me completely. I wish I knew how best to present the facts.”

In addition, Gates lost his father last September. He stated on his official blogthat William Henry Gates II died at the age of 94. “We’ve all had plenty of time to think about how lucky we are to have this amazing man in our lives for so many years,” said Gates. Without this, the foundation of him and Melinda would not have become “what it is today”. After the marriage ended, they would like to continue their work with the organization, even if the two no longer believe “that we as a couple can continue to grow together in this coming phase of our lives”.

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