Melinda French Gates, the wife of Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates for 27 years, will resign as co-chair and trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation if either she or Bill Gates reaches the conclusion that the two cannot work together as co-chairs, the foundation said on Wednesday.
The announcement comes two months after the duo announced their split.
If Melinda French Gates does leave, then Bill Gates would give her “personal resources” for philanthropic purposes that would be separate from funding for the foundation, the foundation said in a statement.
The foundation, among the world’s wealthiest, launched in 2000 and has served as an icon of the couple’s efforts to spend money on education, health care and other areas.
The foundation said Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates have together committed $14 billion in fresh money to the the organization, which spent over $5 billion in 2019.
The Gateses said have agreed to increase the number of trustees, the foundation said. Warren Buffett announced plans to resign as a trustee of the foundation in June.
“I’m grateful to the foundation’s leadership team, employees, and partners for their dedication to making the world healthier and more just,” Gates wrote in a tweet following the announcement.
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