Melinda French Gates Calls Divorce From Bill Gates 'Painful' — But She Has THIS As Top Priority

Melinda French Gates opened up about her divorce from Bill Gates again and revealed what led her to make that decision.

Melinda and Bill have been legally single in the past months since their divorce was finalized in August 2021. They revealed that they no longer believe they could still grow together as a couple after 27 years of marriage.

In a new interview with Fortune magazine, the 58-year-old philanthropist opened up about the painful side of the development and how she still pushed it because of her "top priority."

"I had some reasons I just couldn't stay in that marriage anymore. But the odd thing about COVID is that it gave me the privacy to do what I needed to do. It's unbelievably painful, in innumerable ways, but I had the privacy to get through it," she said.

Melinda added that her children are her top priorities during the divorce process, including protecting them through it. Fortunately, they accomplished everything together.

Melinda and Bill share three children together - Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe.

Despite ending their marriage, she clarified on "CBS Mornings" that they remained friendly and continued to have a professional relationship.

Melinda French Gates, and Bill Gates Still Have One Goal Together

Although they ended their marital connection, Melinda and Bill are still working together to win a Nobel Prize through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. A source confirmed this to PEOPLE, saying that they still want to accomplish the agenda.

As of press time, the foundation is one of the largest private foundations in the world with $51 billion in assets, according to CNBC. It is focusing on vaccine development to score the feat and partnered with companies to expand its empire, including Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS), Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), and Countrywide Mortality Surveillance for Action (COMSA).

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Melinda, on the other hand, also spends her time on her individual projects, including the works of her investment and incubation company, Pivotal Ventures.

Their divorce had been bombarded with rumors, with some claiming that Bill's past infidelity caused the split. The women's advocate, however, clarified she already forgave him for the cheating incident.

Instead, she said she could no longer trust what they had.

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