Melinda Gates reveals bizarre new details about divorce conversation she had with Bill after Epstein scandal

Daily Mail​

24-04-2025

Melinda and Bill Gates decided how they would 'separate their lives' over burgers and a Willie Nelson song, according to her new book.
The philanthropist, 60, reveals details of her separation from the Microsoft founder on her new book, The Next Day. The former power couple of 27 years divorced in 2021 after Bill's links to sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein were unveiled.
Melinda writes that she told Bill she wanted a divorce in August, 2020, and the two shared a long, sometimes 'tender' conversation, as reported by People.
'And then I got in the car to drive home,' she shared. 'On the way back, I pulled over into a parking lot and put on a Willie Nelson song we used to listen to together, Always on My Mind. I bawled, sobbing over the steering wheel.'
Melinda added that 'The day that followed was even weirder and more painful.'
'I drove back out to Hood Canal so I could check on Bill and so we could start talking about how we'd tell our kids. Eventually, we got hungry, so we went out to get burgers,' she wrote.
'It was a scene that had played out hundreds of times between us. But this time, we were talking about how we were going to separate our lives.'
Melinda also reveals in her new book that she started having nightmares of her family falling apart in the months before she decided it was time to separate from Bill.
'Bill has publicly acknowledged that he wasn't always faithful to me,' she admits, noting the 'deeply disturbing' article that reported on Bill's meetings with Epstein.
The has billionaire admitted to an affair with a Microsoft employee in 2000 and while the couple worked through it, Melinda said it left her struggling to trust him.
'I knew, in that moment, that I was going to have to make a decision—and that I was going to have to make it by myself,' she said about the moment she had a nightmare where she 'plummeted' into a void alongside her family.
The mom-of-three recalled how she and Bill took a trip to New Mexico together in February 2020 which she had initially planned to take alone.
On the final night, she sat the billionaire Microsoft founder down and told him she wanted to start living apart.
'It was one of the scariest conversations I'd have had,' Melinda wrote.
Her agonizing decision came in the wake of controversy over her ex-husband's friendship with sex trafficker Epstein, who was found dead in his jail cell while awaiting trial in 2019.
In the book she revealed that Bill was, 'sad and upset' but also 'understanding and respectful.'
Melinda has previously said the friendship was a factor in her pushing for divorce. Bill has said he deeply regrets spending time with Epstein but has never been accused of any wrongdoing in relation to the predator.
'I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein,' she told CBS' Gayle King.
'I made that clear to him. I also met Jeffrey Epstein exactly one time. I wanted to see who this man was and I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door.
'He was abhorrent, evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards. That's why my heart breaks for these young women. That's how I felt, and I am an older woman. He was awful.'
After making the decision, Melinda shared that she had panic attacks thinking about the divorce negotiations, noting that Bill was known as being 'one of the toughest negotiators in the world.'
The philanthropist told People that she is focused on her children and grandchildren, and it appears she had put ex-husband and Microsoft founder Bill out of mind.
'Naturally, Bill and I see each other every now and then at family events, such as graduations,' she said. 'When we do, it's friendly.'
Bill, on his part, recently said the divorce is the 'failure' he regrets the most.
In an interview with Elle, Melinda was asked about the comments and said: 'Look, divorces are painful, and it's not something I would wish on any family.
'But again, I knew when I got divorced, I would be okay on my own. And I think that was the most important thing.'
Bill has publicly moved on with girlfriend Paula Hurd, 62, the widow of former Oracle CEO Mark Hurd.