Melinda French Gates has announced that she will retire from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
“After careful consideration, I have decided to resign from my role as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,” French Gates, 59, said in a statement on Monday, May 13.
Her last day will be June 7, according to her statement.
“This is not a decision I made lightly,” she continued. “I am immensely proud of the foundation Bill and I have built together and the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequality around the world. I care deeply about the foundation team, our partners around the world, and everyone who is touched by his work.”
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates celebrate their daughter Jennifer’s medical school graduation
French Gates went on to say that she will now continue her own philanthropic efforts with $12.5 billion in support.
“This is a critical moment for women and girls in the U.S. and around the world — and those fighting to protect and advance equality urgently need support,” added the 59-year-old philanthropist, who is also the founder of Pivotal. Ventures, a company working on women’s empowerment projects.
“Under the terms of my contract with Bill, when I leave the foundation, I will have an additional $12.5 billion to dedicate to my work on behalf of women and families. I will share more about what that will look like in the near future,” she said in a statement.
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French Gates, who was married to the Microsoft co-founder for nearly 30 years and co-founded their eponymous foundation in 2000, said she was stepping down “with full confidence that the foundation is in good shape, with its extremely capable CEO Mark Suzman, the executive leadership team and an experienced board of trustees in place to ensure the continuation of their important work.”
“The time is right for me to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy,” added French Gates.
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In a statement posted on LinkedIn, Gates thanked French Gates for her “critical contributions” to the foundation.
“As co-founder and co-chair, Melinda has been instrumental in shaping our strategies and initiatives, significantly impacting global health and gender equality,” he said. “I’m sorry to see her go, but I’m sure she will have a huge impact on her future philanthropic work.”
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“Looking ahead, I remain fully committed to the Foundation’s work in all of our strategies and realizing the opportunities we have to continue to improve the lives of millions around the world,” his statement continued. ”
He concluded, “Our foundation team is incredibly strong and deeply passionate about our work, and under the leadership of Mark Suzman and a dedicated board of trustees, I am confident that we will continue to make significant progress in our mission to create a world where every person can live healthy , a productive life.”
In a separate statement, CEO Mark Suzman added that “the foundation is as strong as it has ever been thanks to the expertise, passion and integrity of our employees and partners.”
Melinda French Gates.
Christian Liewig/Corbis/Getty
Speaking about their post-divorce business relationship during an interview with CBS Mornings’ Gayle King in 2022, French Gates said that while it wasn’t always easy, they both remained committed to the foundation.
“I think the thing that people don’t realize is that even during the difficult times, the last 18 months, while we were going through this process behind the scenes, we were able to show up and work effectively together. I’m not saying it was easy, but we did it,” she said. is. “I know I’ve had days for myself where I’d be in tears an hour before an online meeting or I’d be angry, but I still rose to my higher self. I think we can continue to do that.”
Foundation CEO Mark Suzman publicly announced in 2021 that an agreement had been reached that would allow French Gates to step down if she or her ex-husband decided they could no longer work together.
“They have repeatedly clearly expressed their mutual commitment and expectation to remain long-term partners and co-chairs,” Suzman wrote at the time. “However, as an additional step, they agreed that if after two years either of them decided that they could not continue to work together, Melinda would resign as co-president and trustee. In that case, Melinda would receive personal funds from the Account for her philanthropic work would be completely separate from the foundation’s donations, which would not be affected.”
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