Ace Tech entrepreneur, Bill Gates, has opened up about his divorce from Melinda Gates while reflecting on the “most unusual and difficult year” of his life.
The Microsoft co-founder discussed the past year in a year-in-review blog post published to his GatesNotes blog, where he acknowledged that 2021 has been hard for many as most people had to “adapt to a ‘new normal’” amid the pandemic.
According to Gates, who finalised his divorce from Melinda in August after the couple announced in May that they would be separating after 27 years of marriage, he spent much of the year online, with the tech founder noting that he had “stretches of time without any face-to-face social interaction”.
“It’s been a strange and disorienting experience. My personal world has never felt smaller than it did over the last twelve months”.
Bill Gates
Gates then shared some of his accomplishments in 2021, before acknowledging that, although he believes the work he has done over the past year is “by far the most interesting part of my year”, he is aware that “a lot of people are curious” about his divorce.
According to Gates, since ending their marriage, he and Melinda have continued to run their foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, together and have established “a good new working rhythm”.
However, Gates noted that it hasn’t been easy adjusting, and that he “can’t deny that it’s been a year of great personal sadness for me”.
“Adapting to change is never easy, no matter what it is”, he wrote, noting that he’s been impressed by how resilient his loved ones, especially his kids have been in this challenging time.
Bill Gates Shares Highlight of his Year
Gates, who shares three children Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe, with his ex-wife, then shared some of the other changes his family experienced this year, such as Jennifer’s wedding to Nayel Nassar in October, which the father-of-three described as “the highlight of my year”.
According to Gates, the past year also saw him become an empty nester, as he disclosed that their youngest daughter graduated high school and started college at Stanford University, while their son is also away at school.
“The house is a lot quieter without a bunch of teenagers hanging around all the time, I miss having them at home, even if it is easier to focus on reading a book or getting work done these days”.
Bill Gates
The billionaire tech entrepreneur concluded the blog post expressing his hopes for a more positive year that is a “lot more settled than this one” in 2022.
It can be recalled that the divorce of Bill Gates and Melinda Gates came as a shock to some people while others knew the marriage was on its way to shambles. The ex-wife of Bill Gates, Melinda had previously spoken of how difficult her husband found the marriage. She previously told The Sunday Times that being with her husband was often “incredibly hard” when they marked 25 years of marriage in 2019.
Melinda said at the time that “When he was having trouble making the decision about getting married, he was incredibly clear that it was not about me, it was about: ‘Can I get the balance right between work and family life?’”
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