 (6).png)
5 days ago
2
ARTICLE AD BOX
Melinda French Gates launched her Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation in 2022. Bill Gates’ donation follows past controversies, including his resignation from Microsoft’s board amid an investigation into an affair with a company employee.
Bill Gates has donated nearly $8 billion to a charity run by his ex-wife Melinda French Gates, marking one of the largest publicly disclosed philanthropic transfers in recent years.
The Microsoft co-founder made a $7.88 billion donation in 2024 to Melinda’s Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation, according to a report by The New York Times. The contribution comes three years after the couple’s split.
One of the largest donations on record
The donation was disclosed in a recent tax filing and is among the biggest public charitable gifts ever recorded, the new report stated. The filing also provides the first detailed financial insight into the 2021 divorce settlement between the former power couple.
Bill and Melinda Gates, once regarded as one of the world’s most influential philanthropic partnerships, announced their divorce in May 2021 after 27 years of marriage.
Melinda’s exit from Gates Foundation
Melinda French Gates formally stepped away from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in May 2024, ending decades of joint work in global health, education and poverty alleviation.
She launched Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation in late 2022, a year after the divorce, focusing on advancing women’s rights, economic mobility and social equality.
Affair allegations and board investigation
The couple’s split followed revelations about Bill Gates’ past relationship with a Microsoft employee. In 2019, the woman sent a letter to Microsoft’s board detailing an affair that reportedly began in 2000 and requesting that Melinda be informed.
Microsoft’s board investigated the claims and later described the relationship as “inappropriate,” according to The Wall Street Journal.
Bill Gates’ abrupt board exit
While the investigation was ongoing, Bill Gates resigned from Microsoft’s board in March 2020, before the company reached a formal conclusion on the matter. At the time, Gates said he wanted to focus on philanthropy.
English (US) ·