Bill Gates has responded to allegations of an extramarital affair on the first anniversary of the joint announcement that he and Melinda French Gates were getting divorced.
“I certainly made mistakes, and I take responsibility,” the Microsoft co-founder told Today on Tuesday morning, when asked if he was ever unfaithful throughout his 27-year marriage to French Gates.
“The divorce is definitely a sad thing,” the 66-year-old billionaire and philanthropist said. “I have responsibility for causing a lot of pain to my family. It was a tough year. I feel good that all of us are moving forward now.”
Gates added: “Melinda and I are continuing to work together. It was sad and tragic, but now we’re moving together.”
Gates refused to disclose additional details about the affair, saying: “I don’t think delving into the particulars at this point is constructive, but yes, I caused pain and I feel terrible about that.”
In an interview with CBS in March, French Gates explained that numerous factors led to the couple’s high-profile divorce last May.
“There just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realized it just wasn’t healthy,” she said. “I couldn’t trust what we had.”
French Gates also revealed that she cried numerous times during her marriage, sometimes while lying on the floor. “How can I get up? How am I going to move?” she would ask herself, she said.
In response to French Gates’s comments, Bill Gates said, “This was a very tough thing. … We had a lot of amazing things in our marriage. The kids, the foundation, the enjoyment we had. And so it’s a very hard adjustment.”
He continued: “I know divorces are different, but it’s just a complete change. We were partners, we kind of grew up together, and now that’s different. We’re not married.”
French Gates described her current relationship with Bill Gates as “friendly” but explained she is not friends with her former husband.
“Friends is a different word for me,” French Gates said. “That might come over time. But for me there’s still healing that needs to happen.”
Gates has released a new book called How to Prevent the Next Pandemic in which he outlines steps the world should take to avoid another global outbreak.
