Bill, Melinda Gates says will run foundation jointly after divorce
BILL ates and Melinda French ates will continue to work together as co-chairs of their foundation even after their planned divorce. However, if after two years ates and French ates decide they cannot continue in their roles, French ates will resign her positions as co-chair and trustee, The Bill and ates Melinda Foundation announced Wednesday.
If French ates resigns, ates 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 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 re ect that commitment to continue the ates
Foundation together, ates and French ates 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.
It makes sense if somebody is going to leave to do their own thing, it would be Melinda, said David Callahan, the founder of the Inside Philanthropy website and author of The ivers: Wealth, Power, and Philanthropy in a New ilded Age.
French ates has raised her profile on women’s and girls issues in recent years. In 2019, she committed 1 billion toward advancing gender equality in the U.S., citing the low rates of women in leadership positions. She was also one of the speakers at last week’s U.N. Women’s
enerational Equality Forum, where the ates Foundation made a 2.1 billion, five-year pledge to advance gender equality.
ou could easily imagine her going off and starting a new philanthropic enterprise that’s focused on gender equity and women’s empowerment, that’s very different than the ates Foundation, Callahan said. But it’s hard to imagine Bill ates starting his own thing outside the ates Foundation, because much of what he’s interested in is what the ates Foundation does.