MEDINA, Wash. (CNN) – After nearly 30 years, Bill and Melinda Gates are calling it quits.
The couple announced on Twitter Monday they are ending their 27-year marriage.
The two met in 1987 when Bill Gates was the CEO of Microsoft, the company he co-founded.
At the time, Melinda was a project manager, eventually becoming the general manager of information products.
In 2000, six years after their Hawaiian wedding, the “Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation” debuted.
Since then they’ve spent over $53 billion on numerous initiatives focused on areas like global health, poverty alleviation and more.
As of December, the foundation has committed close to $2 billion to the global pandemic response.
The couple has three children.
In a statement, they wrote: “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.”
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