By Tim Stelloh, Dylan Byers and Ben Popken - NBC News
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates announced on Monday jointly with his wife Melinda Gates that they are divorcing after 27 years of marriage.
In 2000,
the couple founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
, a private philanthropic organization that funds research and promotes health around the world, including some of the world's most impoverished nations.
"After much thought and hard work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," they said in a joint statement.
"Over the past 27 years,
we have raised three amazing children and built a foundation that works around the world
to enable all people to lead healthy and productive lives."
Bill Gates and Melinda Gates in a Feb. 1, 2019 file photo.
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In the statement they added that
"we no longer believe that we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives
.
"
Bill Gates, who co-founded Microsoft in 1975 and served as its CEO until 2000, left the company's board of directors last year and has focused on philanthropy ever since.
He still owns about 1.3% of Microsoft shares.
His net worth is approximately $ 130 billion, according to Forbes.
Which makes him the fourth richest person in the world.
So far it is unknown how assets will be handled in the divorce
.
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The Gates Foundation has nearly $ 50 billion, according to its financial statements.
Between 2018 and 2019, he spent around $ 5 billion on scholarships and grants.
It recently awarded
$ 1.75 billion to help accelerate the development process for a COVID-19 vaccine
, as well as treatments and the distribution of coronavirus tests.
That included a $ 4.9 million donation in November to German biotech company BioNTech, which together with Pfizer created the first licensed mRNA vaccine for the treatment of COVID-19.
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One of Bill Gates' main goals in recent decades has been to
donate most of his wealth in life
.
In 2010, he and fellow billionaire Warren Buffet created 'The Giving Pledge', where wealthy people pledge to donate the majority of their assets.
"Effective philanthropy takes a lot of time and creativity, the same kind of focus and skills that building a business requires," Gates told CNN in 1999, outlining his foundation's investment strategies.
In February 2021, Gates published the book
How to avoid a climate disaster
, where he presented his findings and arguments to
combat global warming by achieving zero carbon emissions
in net terms.
"If you want to understand the kind of damage that climate change will inflict, look at COVID-19 and then imagine spreading that pain over a much longer period of time," Gates wrote.
"By 2100 it could be five times more deadly," he emphasized.
