Melinda French Gates opened up about her divorce from Bill Gates in a jaw-dropping and emotional interview with Gayle King on “CBS This Morning.” According to the Philanthropist, “not one thing but many things” forced her to end her 27-year marriage.
French Gates said among those things is the affair the business magnate had with an employee. “I certainly believe in forgiveness, so I thought we had worked through some of that,” she explained. “It wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened. There just came a point in time where there was enough there where I realized it just wasn’t healthy, and I couldn’t trust what we had.”
© CBS this MorningThe 57-year-old former computer scientist and general manager at Microsoft said it is up to her ex-husband to reveal if he had multiple affairs while they were married. “Those are questions Bill needs to answer,” she said.
According to French Gates, she “never thought” she would become a divorcee. “Unfortunately, I felt like I needed to take a different path,” she said. “We knew that when the divorce was going to be a surprise people, and I felt bad about that.”
She continued, “I don’t question myself now. Not at all. I gave every single piece of myself to this marriage. I was committed to this marriage from the day we got engaged and until the day I got out of it.”
The Texas native and single mom of three said she and the Microsoft co-founder remain “friendly” but aren’t “friends,” adding “there’s still healing that needs to happen. I certainly wish him well. I don’t wish him harm. I think we have a productive working relationship, and I think that will continue.”
Melinda French Gates seems to be ready to give love one more chance. Considered one of the world’s most powerful women, French Gates says she is content with her personal life and has started to date. “I’m dipping that toe in the water a little bit,” she said. “It’s interesting at this point.”
