Ex-couple sets post-divorce power share trial

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates will continue to work together as co-chairs of their foundation even after their planned divorce. However, if after two years Gates and French Gates decide they cannot continue in their roles, French Gates will resign her positions as co-chair and trustee, The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced Wednesday.

If French Gates resigns, Gates would essentially buy her out of the foundation, one of the world’s largest private charitable organizations, and she would receive resources from him to do her own philanthropic work. The resources received would be separate from the foundation’s endowment, according to the announcement.

Mark Suzman, the foundation’s CEO, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the announcement was made so the former couple could be “transparent about an agreement they’ve made with each other.”

“That is part of the private agreement between the two of them as part of their wider divorce agreement,” Suzman said. “They’ve both assured me, individually and together, and in the way they’ve been showing up in the work for the last two months, that their full intent and commitment is to be long-term co-chairs trustees of the foundation. And that’s exactly what we’re planning around.”

To reflect that commitment to continue the Gates Foundation - which the Gateses refer to as their “fourth child” - together, Gates and French Gates announced an additional $15 billion to the foundation’s endowment, which had stood at nearly $50 billion. It’s the largest private foundation in the world, granting out $5 billion annually for programs in global health, education and other areas.