Bill Gates Reveals Melinda French Gates Divorce Is His Biggest Regret in Life

Bill Gates is sharing a rare window into his personal life.

The 69-year-old reflected on the unraveling of his marriage to Melinda French Gates, more than three years after they announced their divorce.

“That was the mistake I most regret,” he told the U.K. newspapers The Times in an interview published Jan. 25, later adding, “You would have to put that at the top of the list. There are others but none that matter. The divorce thing was miserable for me and Melinda for at least two years.”

The billionaire Microsoft cofounder and philanthropist and his ex-wife, parents of Jennifer Gates Nassar, 28, Rory Gates, 25, and Phoebe Gates, 22, announced their divorce in 2021 after 27 years of marriage.

“There is a certain wonderfulness to spending your entire adult life with one person because of the memories and depth of things you have done and having kids together,” Bill said. “When Melinda and I met, I was fairly successful but not ridiculously successful—that came during the time that we were together. So, she saw me through a lot.”