Melinda Gates has been consulting with divorce lawyers for two years, amid concerns of her husband’s reported multiple meetings with late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, it has emerged.
Ms Gates, 56, is reported to have hired lawyers from several firms in 2019 to handle a split, The Wall Street Journal reported, saying that it had seen documents to support its story.
The publication claims sources said that one of the reasons behind the split is Mr Gates relationship with Mr Epstein, who committed suicide in prison in 2019.
The newspaper said a source alleged that the Microsoft founder and Mr Epstein came to know each other in 2011.
Ms Gates meetings with divorce lawyers came as a New York Times story published in 2019 revealed numerous meetings between the two men, including Mr Gates staying late into the night at Mr Epstein’s Manhattan townhouse.
The 65-year-old’s spokesperson, Bridgitt Arnold said in 2019 that Mr Gates had met Mr Epstein several times to discuss philanthropy.
“Bill Gates regrets ever meeting with Epstein and recognises it was an error in judgment to do so,” she said.
Bill and Melinda announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage on May 3.
The couple who launched the world’s largest charitable foundation said they would continue to work together at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
In identical tweets, they said they had made the decision to end their marriage.
“We have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives,” they said in a statement.
“We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”
Melinda, filed for divorce at a court in Washington state, saying “this marriage is irretrievably broken” when asked to explain the split and revealing there was no pre-nuptial agreement when they wed on a Hawaiian golf course in 1994.
The pair, who are worth $130 billion, has not commented on the reasons behind their split.
