Bill Gates Says His Divorce From Melinda Is His Greatest Regret

Bill Gates was recently frank on his divorce from his wife, Gates Melindacalling him the error he regrets the most.

The couple, who had been married for more than 27 years, separated in 2021 into a billion dollars divorce.

Since their separation, Bill Gates and Melinda Gates have remained friendly and have evolved with new partners.

In an interview The Sunday TimesBill thought about his 27 -year -old wedding with Melinda Gates and their divorce, calling him “the error that I regret most of my life”.

While the co-founder of Microsoft, 69, admitted that he had faced other setbacks, he stressed that none compared to the pain of the split.

“There are other errors, but it is above all,” he said, describing divorce as an “miserable” experience for him and Melinda, duration to “at least two years”.

Despite the challenges, the former couple managed to maintain a cordial relationship. The two have since evolved and go out with other people.

“Melinda and I still see-we have three children and two grandchildren, so there are family events,” noted Bill, referring to family events with their three children and two grandchildren. “Children are doing well. They have good values.”

Reflecting on their marriage, Bill attributed it to keep it “founded on earth” during the creation and growth of his company billions of dollars.

Bill and Melinda made the knot in 1994 and share three children: Jennifer, 28, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 22. The couple announced their divorce in May 2021 but had lived separately for a year before making public with the news.

In an interview in 2022 with USA todayMelinda, now 60, revealed that it was a “sad day” for her when she realized that she had finished with her marriage to the billionaire.

While she described the decision to separate as the “healthier choice” for both, Melinda also called it the “lowest moment” of her life.

“It was not something I thought never happened to me,” she said. “It was certainly not what I thought the day I got married, but I made myself, I needed to make a healthier choice, and it was only a very day , very sad. “

Bill, for his part, took responsibility for his role in his separation from Melinda after 27 years of marriage.

In a 2022 Maintenance With Savannah Guthrie, he admitted to “caused pain” after his wife faced it with information reporting with a Microsoft employee.

“I certainly made mistakes and I take responsibility,” he said at the time.

Gates added: “I do not think that diving into details at this stage is constructive, but yes, I caused pain, and I feel terrible about it.”

In an interview in 2022 with Gayle King, Melinda also underlined the association of Bill with the condemned pedophile Jeffrey Epstein as a factor contributing to the breakdown of their marriage.

According to Page sixShe said, “I did not like he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein. No. I was clearly clear to her.” Melinda added: “He was odious. He was bad personified.”

Bill has since described his professional ties with Epstein, who died by suicide in prison in August 2019 pending a trial for sexual traffic, as an “error”.

After their separation, Bill and Melinda have evolved in their personal life. In October 2024, Melinda became public with his relationship with the entrepreneur Philip Vaughn.

The two were spotted holding his hand as he headed for dinner at Bernardin in New York. Bill, meanwhile, is in a relationship with Paula Hurd, the widow of the CEO of Oracle Mark Hurd, since 2023.

Bill recently shared details on a rare private dinner with President Donald Trump, describing the meeting of almost three hours as “intriguing” and leaving him “impressed”.

Although he supported Trump’s opponent, former vice-president Kamala Harris, during the 2024 elections, Gates seemed optimistic after their conversation.

“I had a chance, about two weeks ago, to go to have a long dinner and in fact quite intriguing with him,” said Bill to The Wall Street Journal.

During the vast discussion, he declared that they focused strongly on public health, a central field of his philanthropic efforts.

“I had the impression that he was under tension and I can’t wait to help stimulate innovation,” said Bill. “I was frankly impressed by the way he showed a lot of interest in the problems I raised.”