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Bill Gates Clarifies “Regret” Comment About Melinda Gates Divorce

Bill Gates Clarifies “Regret” Comment About Melinda Gates Divorce

Bill Gates Confirms New Relationship After Melinda Gates Divorce

Bill Gates is hitting backspace on his past comments about his divorce.

Though the Microsoft co-founder previously called the demise of his decades-long marriage with ex Melinda French Gates—with whom he shares kids Jennifer Gates Nassar, 28, Rory Gates, 25, and Phoebe Gates, 22—a “mistake,” he wouldn’t recode their relationship in hindsight.

“Despite the fact that the divorce wasn’t great,” he said during a Feb. 4 appearance on Today, “having those three kids, the work we were able to do together—even if I knew that it wouldn’t last forever, I would still do it again.”

In fact, the 69-year-old said he’s since “moved past the divorce.”

“Melinda’s doing well,” Bill continued. “I’ve got a lot of work that I love to do, so I’m not really complaining about anything.”

The billionaire tech mogul added that he’s grateful to have such “phenomenal” kids with Melinda, as well as a great partner in Paula Hurd, who he’s been dating since 2023.

“I’m lucky to have a serious girlfriend,” Bill shared. “We’re having fun, going to the Olympics and lots of great things.”

Bill and Melinda, 60, broke up in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. The two continued to co-chair the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in following years, but the businesswoman eventually resigned from her post in 2024.

In January, Bill said the divorce was “the mistake I most regret.”

“You would have to put that at the top of the list,” he told U.K. newspaper The Times, when asked about the failures in his life. “There are others but none that matter. The divorce thing was miserable for me and Melinda for at least two years.”

Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty Images

At the time, he also credited Melinda—who was linked to tech entrepreneur Philip Vaughn last year—for contributing to his successful career.

“There is a certain wonderfulness to spending your entire adult life with one person because of the memories and depth of things you have done and having kids together,” Bill shared. “When Melinda and I met, I was fairly successful but not ridiculously successful—that came during the time that we were together.”

Explaining how the 60-year-old “saw me through a lot,” Bill added, “You don’t end up with a Microsoft result, being on top of the world, unless an unbelievable number of things converge.”

For more famous couples who called it quits after spending decades together, keep reading.

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Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen

The NFL star and the supermodel touched down in divorce court after 13 years of marriage, confirming Oct. 28, 2022, on their respective social media platforms that they had finalized the terms of their split.

“We arrived at this decision amicably and with gratitude for the time we spent together,” Tom, who shares kids Benjamin and Vivian with Bündchen, wrote in his Instagram Story message. “We are blessed with beautiful and wonderful children who will continue to be the center of our world in every way. We will continue to work together as parents to always ensure they receive the love and attention they deserve.”

The Super Bowl MVP—who is also dad to son Jack from his previous relationship with Bridget Moynahan—noted that he and Gisele didn’t take their decision lightly.

“Doing so is, of course, painful and difficult, like it is for many people who go through the same thing every day around the world,” he continued. “However we wish only the best for each other as we pursue whatever new chapters in our lives that are yet to be written.”

Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Tish and Billy Ray Cyrus

Parents to daughters Miley and Noah as well as son Braison (plus he adopted her daughter Brandi and son Trace and fathered son Christopher in a previous relationship) the couple tied the knot in 1993.

The country singer filed for divorce in 2010, saying in a statement at the time that they were “trying to work through some personal matters.” Mission accomplished, at least temporarily, because Billy Ray withdrew his petition in March 2011. However, he refiled in June 2013, and she counter-filed. And yet, they stayed together again, Tish crediting couples therapy for bringing them closer. 

But they would later find themselves drifting apart. Though Tish filed for divorce a third time in April 2022, her petition stated that she and her husband of 29 years had actually been living apart since February 2020.

“It is after 30 years, five amazing children and a lifetime of memories, we have decided to go our separate ways—not with sadness, but with love in our hearts,” the exes told People in a joint statement. “We have grown up together, raised a family we can be so proud of, and it is now time to create our own paths.”

Later that year, Billy Ray got engaged to Firerose, whom he wed in October 2023. But after less than a year of marriage, the “Old Town Road” artist filed for divorce in June 2024. Following a contentious split, they settled their divorce two months later.

Meanwhile, Tish accepted Prison Break star Dominic Purcell’s proposal in 2023 and married him that year.

Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty Images

Bill and Melinda Gates

The parents of three and co-founders of the internationally renowned Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation revealed in May 2021 they were splitting up after 27 years of marriage. A Washington judge finalized their divorce just three months later, a ready-to-roll separation contract making the division of their estimated $130 billion fortune less onerous.

AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Sean Penn and Robin Wright

Both recently divorced, Sean from Madonna and Robin from Dane Witherspoon, the actors fell in love making the 1990 crime drama State of Grace. They welcomed daughter Dylan in 1991 and son Hopper in 1993 and tied the knot in 1996. They purposely moved to Northern California to raise their kids away from “the bubble of celebrity,” Robin would later explain to Vanity Fair, but tumult followed and, after a few false starts, they officially divorced in 2010.

“I believe we were together not only to have our beautiful children but to learn how to love…for the next time around, the right way,” the House of Cards star said. “And then, what I’m looking for in people now is kindness.”

At the time she was back on with ex-fiancé Ben Foster, but after that ended she moved on with Clement Giraudet, marrying him in 2018. TMZ reported in September 2022 that Robin filed for divorce, citing July 31, 2022, as their date of separation.

Sean famously dated Charlize Theron for a couple of years and then married Leila George in January 2020, but she filed for divorce in October 2021.

Mike Theiler/UPI/Shutterstock

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver

A power couple even before they were governor and first lady of California, the bodybuilder-turned-actor and renowned journalist announced in May 2011 that they had separated after 25 years of marriage.

A week later, Arnold came clean about fathering a son with his family’s former housekeeper of more than 20 years. Joseph Baena enjoys a relationship with his dad (as well as an affinity for the weight room) and is pursuing his own career as an actor.

The Shriver-Schwarzenegger union, which produced daughters Katherine and Christina as well as sons Patrick and Christopher didn’t officially end until December 2021, when The Terminator star and the author finalized their divorce.

Paul Zimmerman/WireImage

Teresa and Joe Giudice

His-and-hers prison sentences for fraud were not kind to the Real Housewives of New Jersey stars’ 20-year marriage. He ended up being deported to Italy after spending three years behind bars, and they divorced in September 2020.

“I can’t get mad at her,” Joe told E! News of his ex a month later. “She’s the mother of my four daughters and she’s taking care of them right now because obviously I can’t. What am I going to do, have the kids move here to a country that they don’t even know the language? That would be a disaster…Thank God they’re tough kids, but it’s still a damn shame. At the end of the day, you know, we’re doing our best.”

Teresa is once again a married woman, wedding Luis Ruelas in August 2022 after they met during a chance encounter at the Jersey shore. The bride’s four daughters—Gia, Gabriella, Milania and Audriana—were all in attendance. 

Dave M. Benett/Getty Images

Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins

Married for all intents and purposes, if not on paper, the Oscar winners separated in the summer of 2009 after 23 years together, having met making the rowdy 1988 baseball romance Bull Durham.

They share sons Jack and Miles plus Tim helped raise Susan’s daughter Eva Amurri.

“People were coming up to me in the street and saying, ‘I cried and cried when I heard,'” the Thelma & Louise star told The Telegraph in 2010 after her breakup with the director. “Well, I was sadder! I didn’t think it would ever happen, either. You bring people into your life at certain times. Maybe you have a relationship to have children and you realize that it’s fulfilled after that point.”

Tim ended up marrying actress Gratiela Brancusi in 2017, but it wasn’t widely known they’d taken that step until he filed for divorce in January 2021.

Steve Granitz Archive/Getty Images

Mel Gibson and Robyn Moore

Though Robyn didn’t file for divorce from the father of her seven children until April 2009, according to Reuters, their separation began just days after his explosive drunk-driving arrest in July 2006.

“Throughout our marriage and separation we have always strived to maintain the privacy and integrity of our family and will continue to do so,” they said in a 2009 statement confirming the end of their union. At the time, Mel was already expecting a child, his eighth, with then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. (He’s since become a dad of nine, welcoming son Lars in 2017 with Rosalind Ross.)

“It was an unfortunate incident,” the Braveheart actor said on Variety’s Playback podcast in 2016, referring to his 2006 arrest and the resulting backlash over antisemitic comments he made to the officer that pulled him over. “I was loaded and angry and arrested. I was recorded illegally by an unscrupulous police officer who was never prosecuted for that crime…So, not fair. I guess as who I am, I’m not allowed to have a nervous breakdown, ever.”

Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic

Kody and Christine Brown

The TLC star’s third of four sister wives—and mother of six of his 18 children—left the family’s Arizona home in November 2021 after 27 years together and moved to Utah.

“I started thinking maybe this isn’t working for me,” Christine told People in August 2022. “And then I stopped believing in polygamy. I realized I didn’t really want to live it anymore. I didn’t like sharing a husband or feeling like I wasn’t important.”

Kody legally married first wife Meri Brown in 1990, after which sister wives Janelle Brown and Christine joined him in spiritual matrimony in 1993 and 1994, respectively. He and Meri divorced and fourth wife Robyn Brown became his legally recognized spouse in 2014. 

“I want a guy who actually loves me and wants to be with me intimately,” Christine, who wed David Woolley the following year, added. “I will be a monogamist from here on out.”

Janelle has also since left the fold, Kody revealing in the December 2022 reunion special that they were separated. Meri followed suit soon after, with her and Kody announcing in January 2023 they decided to “permanently terminate” their spiritual marriage.

Katie Jones/Variety/Shutterstock

Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott

OK, so the couple that earn their first billion together don’t necessarily stay together.

News of the Amazon founder and sometimes-richest-man-in-the-world’s divorce from his wife of 25 years came as a shock in January 2019—though mainly because Jeff was already involved with not-yet-divorced Good Day L.A. co-host Lauren Sanchez and the National Enquirer published their romantic text messages. (Jeff, who shares four children with MacKenzie, countered that they were long-separated so the tabloid didn’t have much of a scoop.) 

MacKenzie, who married Seattle science teacher Dan Jewett in March 2021, received a reported $38.3 billion worth of Amazon stock in her divorce settlement, turning her into one of the world’s richest people as well. She signed The Giving Pledge, a promise to give at least half of her fortune to charity, in 2019.

Dan made the vow as well after their wedding, but MacKenzie filed for divorce on Sept. 26, 2022, and it was finalized in early 2023.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman

Married for 30 years, the Matilda co-stars announced in 2012 that they were separating—but the parents of three never pulled the trigger on a divorce.

“We’re still separated, but we see each other often, and we’re still a family,” Perlman told People in August. “We can do things together, we can do things separately. I’m really, really glad that Danny and I were able to navigate some rough days to be able to have this different kind of relationship. I think it’s pretty rare, but we agree on so many things that it makes sense.”

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