When it comes to major life decisions, you'd typically expect your significant other to involve you in them. Whether it be moving due to a new job opportunity, wanting to have kids or not, or what to spend the joint account on, including your spouse is a key part of any relationship. That apparently wasn't the case for Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, with the tech billionaire's ex-wife speaking out about his decision to give away $200 billion.
Known as the co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates has amassed quite a fortune over the years. The Forbes billionaire list currently claims he's worth $113 billion, which is not exactly pocket change and makes him the 13th richest person in the world.
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It's some way from the top, and considering Gates became the first-ever centibillionaire in 1999, you might be questioning what he's spent his money on. Unlike Mark Zuckerberg making underground doomsday bunkers and Elon Musk striving to get the human race living on Mars, Gates has channeled his wealth into charitable ventures as part of The Gates Foundation and The Giving Pledge. Alongside Melinda French Gates and fellow former world's richest man Warren Buffett, Gates has vowed to give away almost all his money. There's been plenty of debate about his children only getting $10 million each, but to be honest, we wouldn't be turning our noses up at that.
The Gates' and Buffet announced The Giving Pledge back in 2010, with the aim of encouraging some of the world's richest to give at least 50% of their wealth to philanthropic causes. Gates has recently clapped back at Elon Musk's DOGE cuts and accused the world's richest man of 'killing' children, which is ironic because he's technically still part of The Giving Pledge.
Melinda French Gates has previously spoken out about the 'betrayals' of her husband and the road that led to their divorce in 2021, but in a revelation to Fortune, she claims that the decision for Bill to give away so much of his money was made without her consent.
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It comes after Bill Gates announced a tight deadline to double the spending of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that they founded together in 2000. Since being renamed the Gates Foundation following their divorce, Bill confirmed spending is due to hit $200 billion in hopes of shutting down in 2045.
Speaking to the outlet in May 2025, Melinda French Gates reiterated that while it's a 'fantastic' decision, it's not one she was consulted on: "This particular decision was made after I left. It was made between Bill and Mark [Suzman, the foundation’s CEO] and the board, and I think it’s a fantastic decision."
French Gates clarified that it was always the 'plan' to put these resources back into society, saying that she's happy there's now a public pledge to do so.
Still, with Melinda French Gates apparently boasting $30.5 billion and being the 56th richest person in the world, it doesn't sound like her own worth has been impacted too much by her ex-husband's pledge to give it all back.