By , CNN
Melinda French Gates, one of the world’s preeminent philanthropists, said Monday she would resign as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that she has helped lead since 2000.
The foundation has made nearly $78 billion worth of grant payments in the nearly 25 years since its founding.
French Gates made the decision “after considerable reflection, based on how she wants to spend the next chapter of her philanthropy,” the foundation’s CEO, Mark Suzman, wrote in a statement Monday. “Melinda has new ideas about the role she wants to play in improving the lives of women and families in the U.S. and around the world. And, after a difficult few years watching women’s rights rolled back in the U.S. and around the world, she wants to use this next chapter to focus specifically on altering that trajectory.”
As part of her separation agreement from former husband Bill Gates, French Gates said she will receive an additional $12.5 billion for her charitable work.
“This is not a decision I came to lightly,” she said in a statement posted on X. “I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world.”
French Gates said she plans to leave the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on June 7, and she will share more about her future charitable plans in the near future.
The organization will change its name to the Gates Foundation, and Bill Gates will become the sole chair, Suzman said.
“I am sorry to see Melinda leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work,” wrote Bill Gates in a separate statement Monday, also posted on X.
“Looking ahead, I remain fully committed to the Foundation’s work across all our strategies, and to realizing the opportunities we have to continue improving the lives of millions around the world,” he wrote.
French Gates’ planned exit
French Gates’ exit had been telegraphed for several years. Bill Gates and French Gates announced their divorce in May 2021. They said at the time they would allow themselves a kind of trial period through 2023 to determine if they could continue working with one another to oversee their massive charitable foundation.
Melinda French Gates, one of the world’s preeminent philanthropists, said Monday she would resign as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that she has helped lead since 2000.
The foundation has made nearly $78 billion worth of grant payments in the nearly 25 years since its founding.
French Gates made the decision “after considerable reflection, based on how she wants to spend the next chapter of her philanthropy,” the foundation’s CEO, Mark Suzman, wrote in a statement Monday. “Melinda has new ideas about the role she wants to play in improving the lives of women and families in the U.S. and around the world. And, after a difficult few years watching women’s rights rolled back in the U.S. and around the world, she wants to use this next chapter to focus specifically on altering that trajectory.”
“This is not a decision I came to lightly,” she said in a statement posted on X. “I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world.”
French Gates said she plans to leave the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on June 7, and she will share more about her future charitable plans in the near future.
The organization will change its name to the Gates Foundation, and Bill Gates will become the sole chair, Suzman said.
“I am sorry to see Melinda leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work,” wrote Bill Gates in a separate statement Monday, also posted on X.
“Looking ahead, I remain fully committed to the Foundation’s work across all our strategies, and to realizing the opportunities we have to continue improving the lives of millions around the world,” he wrote.
French Gates’ planned exit
French Gates’ exit had been telegraphed for several years. Bill Gates and French Gates announced their divorce in May 2021. They said at the time they would allow themselves a kind of trial period through 2023 to determine if they could continue working with one another to oversee their massive charitable foundation.
