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Melinda French Gates serves as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a non-profit organization that ranks among the world's largest philanthropic foundations that her ex-husband Bill Gates helped found more than 20 years ago. I am planning to step down from . Here, Gates flashes her smile as she leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris on June 23, 2023.
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Christophe Anna/AP
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Melinda French Gates serves as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a non-profit organization that ranks among the world's largest philanthropic foundations that her ex-husband Bill Gates helped found more than 20 years ago. I am planning to step down from . Here, Gates flashes her smile as she leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris on June 23, 2023.
Christophe Anna/AP
Melinda French Gates, one of the world's wealthiest philanthropists, announced Monday that she is resigning as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which she has helped run since its founding in 2000. .
The 59-year-old said in a post on
French Gates said his last day with the foundation will be June 7.
“This is not a decision I have made lightly,” she wrote to X. “I am very proud of the foundation Bill and I have built together and the incredible work we are doing to address inequality around the world.”
![Melinda French Gates calls for women's equality in political leadership.](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2023/07/21/melinda-french-gates_sq-d72471edd8fcbcaa27ac900f5149ca241dad0c38.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg)
As part of the separation agreement with the foundation, French Gates will receive an additional $12.5 billion for his philanthropy, which he said he plans to use for ongoing work supporting women and families.
“This is a critical moment for women and girls in America and around the world. Those fighting to protect and advance equality urgently need support,” she adds.
In a separate statement posted on
“We are sad to see Melinda leave, but we are confident she will have a significant impact on our future philanthropy,” Gates wrote.
Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in a statement Monday that French Gates “cares deeply about the foundation” and emphasized his ability to connect with the people he serves.
In the same statement, Suzman announced that the foundation would be renamed the Gates Foundation, with Bill Gates becoming sole chairman.
“Melinda has new ideas about the role she wants to play in improving the lives of women and families in the United States and around the world. And after years of watching women’s rights roll back in the United States and around the world, she “I will use the next chapter to focus specifically on changing that trajectory,” Suzman wrote.
The couple, who met in 1987, founded the foundation in 2000 and donate heavily to issues surrounding global health. Since its founding, Bill Gates has donated approximately $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to global organizations. forbes It has been reported.
In 2021, Melinda and Bill Gates announced that they were ending their 27-year marriage. At the time, the couple said they still shared a belief in the foundation's mission and would continue to work together despite the end of their marriage.
![Bill and Melinda Gates announce divorce](https://media.npr.org/assets/img/2021/05/03/ap_21123757079280_sq-d0ef122efb7b0a224ba139a9ad20c03d0457706f.jpg?s=100&c=100&f=jpeg)
“We will continue to share a belief in its mission and continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives,” the couple said in a statement. .
Notes to editors: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of NPR's financial supporters.