Bill and Melinda Gates Announce that they are getting Divorced, after 27 years of Marriage

Bill and Melinda Gates jointly announced Monday that they will end their 27 year marriage. In a tweet from Bill Gates' account signed by the couple, the Gateses said that the decision came after a "great deal of thought and work." The tweet says:

"After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage. Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to live healthy, productive lives. We continue to share a believe in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we navigate this next phase of our lives." Bill and Melinda Gates.

It was not immediately clear how this would affect Microsoft Corporation, where Gates is the Chairman emeritus. Or how it would affect the Bill and Melinda Gates charitable foundation. When Jeff Bezos divorced earlier this year, he went from the world's richest man, overnight, to number 4. And his ex, MacKenzie Bezos, overnight became the richest woman in the world, due to her acquisition of Amazon stock after the divorce.

Melinda Ann Gates is an American philanthropist and a former general manager at Microsoft. In 2000, she and her husband Bill Gates co-founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable organization as of 2015.

From the New York Times: The divorce will create new questions about the fate of the Gates fortune, much of which has not yet been donated to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Mr. Gates, who co-founded Microsoft, is one of the richest people in the world, worth an estimated $124 billion, according to Forbes.

"For over 20 years, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been committed to tackling the greatest inequities in our world. Learn more about our story. We can't achieve our goals on our own. We work together with businesses, government, and nonprofits, and each partner plays a specific role in accelerating progress." This from the Foundation website.