Are Bill and Melinda Gates divorcing over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein?

The shocking details of the divorce between the longtime marriage of Bill & Melinda Gates has been dominating news headlines this entire past week, but one question from the public remains: what actually caused the fallout between the couple? While sources have been spreading details of ex lovers and more stories, many are now speculating that the reason behind this separation could be Jeffrey Epstein. 

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— Bill Gates (@BillGates) May 3, 2021

News of the divorce

The news of the divorce was first shared to the public by both Bill & Melinda Gates, who made a joint announcement through the Microsoft founder’s Twitter account. The statement read: “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 lead healthy, productive lives”, the two shared, referring to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that formed in 2000. As for their family, the two are parents to twenty-five-year-old Jennifer Katharine Gates, twenty-one-year-old Rory John Gates, and nineteen-year-old Phoebe Adele Gates.

Their shared statement continued with where the two are heading together now that their romantic relationship is over, explaining: “We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can work together as a couple in this next phase of our lives. We ask for space and our privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life”. 

But why did it lead to this?

The decision to call it quits between Bill & Melinda Gates was certainly not a snap decision, and it didn’t seem like an easy one either. According to the Wall Street Journal, Ms. Gates had already been consulting with divorce lawyers around two years before she actually filed for a divorce from the Microsoft founder, and stated in the past that their marriage was “irretrievably broken”. 

Melinda Gates had been consulting with lawyers at numerous firms beginning from at least 2019 with the intent to end their marriage of over twenty-something years. Wall Street Journal confirmed that documents reveal that the two “negotiated their divorce throughout the COVID-19 pandemic”. 

The two reportedly were also not together when signing official papers for the end of their marriage. Melinda Gates ended up signing her petition for divorce near her family home shared with Bill Gates and their foundation’s headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. Wall Street Journal also reported that Bill Gates signed his papers miles and miles away down in Palm Desert, California. 

Epstein? 

Of course, the definite reasoning behind their split has not yet been confirmed, but this hasn’t stopped plenty of folks from making their own guesses. One strong theory could be because of Mr. Gates’ alleged dealings and friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Wall Street Journal reported that according to people including a former employee of their shared foundation, Melinda Gates was strongly concerned about her husband’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein as far back as 2013. The publication wrote that “Ms. Gates and her advisers held a number of calls in October 2019 when the New York Times reported that Mr. Gates had met with Mr. Epstein on numerous occasions”.

The Times even reported in the past that the Microsoft founder once stayed late into night at Mr. Epstein’s townhouse in Manhattan, yet details about just what was going on that night have been unconfirmed. Bridgitt Arnold, a spokeswoman for Bill Gates, said in 2019 that “Bill Gates regrets ever meeting with Epstein and recognizes it was an error in judgment to do so”.

Arnold also expressed that the two had only met numerous times to discuss philanthropy. However, Melinda Gates, who is a global advocate for feminism, had already expressed her concern towards Epstein right off the bat when the two met him in 2013. Still, Bill Gates continued a friendship with him despite his wife’s concerns. Could this really be the reason behind their fallout?