Gates Foundation Announces New Multi-Million Dollar Investment Following Bill & Melinda Divorce

Bill and Melinda Gates during a visit to the Elysee Palace in Paris in April 2017.KAMIL ZIHNIOGLU / AP

The Gates Foundation, one of the world's largest philanthropic organizations, has given itself two years to see if its two leaders, Bill Gates and Melinda French, can continue to work together after announcing their divorce last May.

Otherwise, French will leave the organization.

The agreement announced this Wednesday by Mark Suzman, the CEO of the foundation, has not been the only news that has been communicated.

There have also been some changes in the structure of the organization after the departure of Warren Buffett as one of its trustees and the injection of 15,000 million dollars by its directors that will be invested in research on the cure of diseases, in education and in gender equality.

More information

• Microsoft investigated an alleged affair between Bill Gates and a company employee

• Pentagon cancels $ 10 billion contract with Microsoft to store data in the cloud

This donation is the most important contribution of Gates and French to their foundation since 2000, when they transferred 20,000 million in Microsoft shares to the institution, which today has 65,000 million in resources to combat inequality.

"This generous gift underscores the commitment to the foundation and the belief that we can have a positive effect all over the world," Suzman said in a text that he named

Avanzando

, an action that indicates that the organization has concluded the seismic event that caused the separation of Gates and French, who have called the foundation "the fourth child" of the couple.

Buffett's departure was announced on June 24. The 90-year-old millionaire, a great friend of the creator of Microsoft, said then that he had been a silent trustee for two decades, but that he supported the work led by Suzman and led by Gates and French, now the only two members of the trust. The foundation has taken advantage of the tycoon's step backward to undertake a restructuring. Thus, they will expand the number of members of the governing body, who will contribute "new perspectives, visions and experiences to guide the foundation," says the CEO of the philanthropic body.

Despite the fact that the separation of Gates and French led to the revelation of an alleged infidelity of the computer genius or the accusation of the financial adviser of both of having created a toxic environment in his firm, both have given signs that they can continue working together after their breakup. The foundation recently announced a donation of $ 2.1 billion for female empowerment scholarships, which will be distributed to women and programs around the world over the next five years. They have also invested to fight the pandemic and to permanently eradicate polio.

Melinda French could cease to be one of the members of the trust if she does not consider herself in a position to continue working with her ex-husband.

If this happens, Bill Gates will buy his share of the foundation with his personal fortune, which exceeds $ 140 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The foundation's endowment would not be affected by French's departure, the organization has announced.

French has responded to the announcement with a personal statement, in which he indicates his interest in the work he has done in recent decades.

"I firmly believe in the mission of the foundation and remain fully committed as co-president," he said.

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