Melinda French Gates on leaving foundation she began with Bill Gates: ‘I received this advice’
Melinda French Gates wrote that she's committing $1 billion through 2026 to “people and organizations working on behalf of women."
Melinda French Gates talked about her departure from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which she cofounded with her now ex-husband Bill Gates. Explaining her decision in an op-ed in The New York Times, she wrote, “Many years ago, I received this piece of advice: 'Set your own agenda, or someone else will set it for you.' I've carried those words with me ever since.”
She added, “That's why, next week, I will leave the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, of which I was a co-founder almost 25 years ago, to open a new chapter in my philanthropy.”
Read more: Melinda French Gates to donate $1B over next 2 years in support of women's rights
Melinda French Gates wrote that she's committing $1 billion through 2026 to “people and organizations working on behalf of women and families around the world, including on reproductive rights in the United States.”
Melinda French Gates is resigning as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on June 7 to “to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy,” she earlier said.
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On her resignation, Bill Gates said in a separate statement, “I am sorry to see Melinda leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work.”
Read more: What next for Melinda French Gates? To use $12.5 billion for own philanthropy
Announcing their divorce in 2021 after 27 years of marriage, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates had said, "We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives."
Later it was reported that Melinda French Gates had been meeting with divorce lawyers since 2019 after Bill Gates' ties to Jeffrey Epstein were revealed.
