Microsoft founder, Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda end marriage 27 years after

Microsoft founder, Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda have announced divorce after 27 years of marriage, adding that their separation will not affect the running of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which they founded in 2000.

The billionaire couple in a joint statement announced their decision to go their separate way by giving each other space to enable them navigates a new phase of their lives.

According to media reports, the announcement from one of the world’s wealthiest couples, with an estimated net worth of $130 billion, was made on Twitter on Monday.

The statement read, “After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” a statement on Bill Gates’s official Twitter handle reads on Monday evening.

The couple founded their philanthropic organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, together in 2000.

“We have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives.

“We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives.” It added.

Bill and Melinda Gates met in 1987 at Microsoft — which Bill Gates founded and was, at the time, running as CEO.

She worked as a product manager as part of the first class of MBA graduates to join the company and eventually rose through the ranks to become general manager of information products.

The couple married in Hawaii in 1994.