Melinda French Gates says she wants people to see her 'thriving' after her divorce from Bill Gates
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- Melinda French Gates has moved on with her life following her 2021 divorce from Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
- Although the split was difficult, it was also one of the most important things she's ever done, she said.
- Her comments come after her ex-husband said in January that their split "was the mistake I most regret."
Melinda French Gates, 60, isn't looking back after her divorce from Bill Gates.
In an interview with Elle published on Monday, French Gates spoke about the dissolution of her marriage to the Microsoft founder.
"Look, divorces are painful, and it's not something I would wish on any family," French Gates told Elle.
The philanthropist, who shares three children with Gates, said that ending her marriage was one of the hardest yet most significant decisions she's ever made, per Elle.
The pair first met in 1987, shortly after French Gates started working at Microsoft as a product manager. After seven years of dating, they married in 1994. In May 2021, they announced they were ending their marriage after 27 years, and their divorce was finalized in August.
French Gates also said she was not interested in dating at the moment.
"But again, I knew when I got divorced, I would be okay on my own. And I think that was the most important thing," French Gates said.
She had a hopeful answer when asked what she wanted someone to know about her if they Googled her five years from now.
"She's thriving on the other side of a divorce," French Gates said. "Just thriving."
French Gates' comments come after her ex-husband told The Times in January that their split "was the mistake I most regret."
"You would have to put that at the top of the list," Gates said when asked if the divorce was his only failure in life. "There are others but none that matter. The divorce thing was miserable for me and Melinda for at least two years."
The Microsoft founder added that he and French Gates still see each other at family events.
In the wake of their split in 2021, The Wall Street Journal reported that French Gates had been seeking a divorce since 2019 when it was publicly revealed that Gates had met with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein multiple times. There were also reports of Gates' extramarital affairs during his tenure as Microsoft CEO.
In a 2022 CBS interview with Gayle King, French Gates described her emotions after the divorce and said she was "grieving" the loss of something she thought she had for a lifetime.
"I had a lot of tears for many days," French Gates said, recalling how she would lie on the floor and think, "How can this be? How can I get up? How am I going to move forward?"
The former couple did not have a prenuptial agreement and split their property according to a separation contract. Following their split, Gates transferred over $6 billion worth of stock to French Gates.
According to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index today, French Gates's net worth is about $15 billion.
A representative for French Gates did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider outside regular hours.