Billionaire Bill Gates' wife reveals reason for divorce

In her new book, The Next Day , philanthropist Melinda Gates reveals the pivotal moments in 2019 that led to her split from Microsoft mogul Bill Gates after 25 years, including iconic dreams and a persistent "echo" urging her to leave, according to RadarOnline.com .

Melinda, 60, lifted the veil on her marriage to Bill Gates, 69, in a harrowing account, revealing for the first time that she had "a nightmare for weeks" just two years before the couple officially split in 2021.

Melinda Gates and daughter Phoebe

PHOTO: AFP

The couple met while working at Microsoft in 1987 and have three children together during their 27 years together: daughter Jennifer (28 years old), son Rory (25 years old) and daughter Phoebe (22 years old).

Recalling her recurring dream, Melinda writes: "At first I was standing in a beautiful house. Then I realized it was falling apart, its foundation hollowed out, eroded by the ocean. The floor beneath me began to cave in. Night after night I woke up in panic. I lay there gasping for air, reminding myself to take deep breaths."

Melinda knew she "didn't need psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud" to tell her what the dreams were about, because she quickly learned that they were related to her crumbling marriage to Bill, especially after the shocking news of his infidelity.

"If there was a metaphor, it was a pretty clear one," she continued. "Bill had publicly acknowledged that he had not always been faithful to me during our marriage. That October, things came to a head when The New York Times published a deeply disturbing article that raised serious questions about Bill's behavior, questions that suggested he had betrayed not only our marriage but my values."

Melinda Gates Overcomes Personal Challenge to Reconcile Relationship with Bill Gates

Despite all the difficulties, the businesswoman said she wanted to mend her marriage for the sake of her family.

"There have been other difficult times in our relationship, moments when we felt like everything could fall apart," she admitted. "But we love each other and the family we've built together. So every time our relationship has cracked, we've found a way to fix it."

Billionaire Bill Gates

PHOTO: AFP

The philanthropist also said she was "haunted by guilt if she divorced because of her Catholic faith" and always felt pressure from her family to have a successful marriage.

But in the last few weeks of 2019, Melinda said the dreams became more intense, feeling like they were trying to "signal" something to her.

One particular dream left her and her family standing on a crumbling cliff. She recalled: “I dreamed that we were all standing on a cliff. The cliff I was standing on cracked and I fell away from my family. Even after my eyes opened, the fear and loneliness were still there. It sounds dramatic, but at that moment, I knew I had to make a decision.”

Shortly thereafter, Melinda reported "beginning to hear whispering at the edge of consciousness", further describing it as "faint echoes of voices".

As that voice spoke with "gentle authority," Melinda said it shared a painful message about marriage.

“Honestly, it was a scary thing to think about,” she writes. “And so, at first, I tried to push the whisper away. I took time off for a long business trip and to visit my daughter Phoebe, who was studying abroad in South Africa for a semester. I rushed into winter break. At the end of the break, I called my best friend from high school, Mary Lehman, and begged her to get on a plane. I didn’t want to be alone with those thoughts. I needed to talk.”

“Trying to ignore the whisper doesn’t work because it just gets louder and more persistent,” Melinda adds. “It’s there, all the time, repeating the same message over and over again.”

Melinda plans to vacation alone in New Mexico but decides to bring Bill along in an attempt to save their marriage.

"At first, Bill and I tried to treat it like any other vacation," she writes. "We hiked, had dinner together. But I also made sure to take time for quiet reflection, as I had originally planned. Then one night, as I sat alone downstairs with my pen and journal, it occurred to me that I knew why I had come to New Mexico. My inner voice began to speak again, and this time it was firm and decisive: it was time to separate myself from Bill."

Elsewhere in The Next Day , Melinda recounts her divorce from the billionaire, recalling the difficulty of breaking the news to her family and the CEO of their Gates Foundation.

On May 3, 2021, the two released a joint statement: "After much thought and effort into our relationship, we have decided to end our marriage. We ask for space and privacy for our family."

Despite their split, Melinda revealed that she and Bill Gates remain "friendly" and still see each other from time to time.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vo-ti-phu-bill-gates-tiet-lo-nguyen-nhan-ly-hon-185250416075643711.htm