Melinda French Gates talks Bill Gates divorce, addresses 'betrayals' in marriage

As Melinda French Gates looks forward to her future, she is getting raw about her past.

The businesswoman and philanthropist, in detailing the transitions she's undergone in her life, opens up about divorce from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in her new book, "The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward" (out April 15). The couple's divorce after nearly three decades of marriage brought on nightmares and panic attacks, she explains in the memoir, according to excerpts published by People magazine.

French Gates was having nightmares alluding to her collapsing marriage at the end of 2019 that made her realize she was "going to have to make a decision — and that I was going to have to make it by myself," she writes, per People. Though she keeps details about what prompted the end of their marriage private, she reportedly shares in one excerpt that "Bill has publicly acknowledged that he wasn’t always faithful to me."

It was during a February 2020 trip to New Mexico that she broke the news in "one of the scariest conversations I’d have had" that she wanted to live separately from her husband. That summer, she broached the topic of a divorce.

She also writes, per People, that speaking with a therapist during this time "made it possible for me to respond to the betrayals in my marriage without betraying myself in return."

Despite having "panic attacks" over the realization that her soon-to-be ex-husband was "one of the toughest negotiators in the world, the divorce was finalized after a "grueling" and lengthy process. Soon after, on May 3, 2021, they revealed the news to the world in a social media post.

Now, four years later, French Gates has found herself "quite happy" these days, confirming to People that she has moved on to a new relationship.

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Melinda French Gates calls decision to divorce one of her 'lowest moments'

French Gates told USA TODAY in 2022 that the decision to end her marriage was one of the "lowest moments in my life."

"I would say probably, though, for sure, my lowest moment in life was when I finally reached the decision that I knew I needed to leave my marriage," she said. "That wasn't something I ever thought would happen to me. It certainly wasn't what I thought on the day I got married, but I realized for myself, I needed to make a healthier choice, and that was just a very, very sad day."

In a recent interview, Bill Gates told U.K. newspaper The Times that "The divorce thing was miserable for me and Melinda for at least two years," calling it his "biggest regret."

Weeks after their divorce announcement, The Wall Street Journal reported that Bill Gates was investigated by Microsoft directors following an employee's claims in 2019 of a prior sexual relationship. Gates' representative told the outlet that his departure from the company's board in 2020 was unrelated to the allegations, which stemmed from an affair that occurred almost 20 years prior.

"Well, I certainly believe in forgiveness, so I thought we had worked through some of that," French Gates told "CBS Mornings" anchor Gayle King in a 2011 interview when asked about this incident. "It wasn't one moment or one specific thing that happened. There just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realized it just wasn't healthy, and I couldn't trust what we had."

French Gates, who resigned from her role as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last year, has since been dedicating efforts toward her company, Pivotal Ventures.

The LLC, which has a philanthropic arm, uses "high-impact investments, philanthropy, partnerships, and advocacy" to advance causes such as building a "modern caregiving system," centering young people's mental health, increasing the number of women in public office and helping women enter and succeed in the tech field.