Melinda Gates shares the ‘scariest conversation’ on divorce she had with Bill Gates

Melinda French Gates experienced recurring nightmares that signaled the end of her nearly three-decade marriage to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, according to revelations in her forthcoming memoir "The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward."
The philanthropist describes dreams of "a beautiful house collapsing" around her in late 2019, which her subconscious made "a bit obvious," she notes in the book set for release on April 15.
"Bill has publicly acknowledged that he wasn't always faithful to me," French Gates writes, also referencing a "deeply disturbing" article about Bill Gates' meetings with Jeffrey Epstein that emerged that fall.
The nightmares intensified, eventually depicting scenarios where she "plummeted" over a cliff edge while her family watched. "As dramatic as it sounds, 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 reveals.
In February 2020, French Gates initiated "one of the scariest conversations I'd have had," telling her husband she wanted to live separately. While Gates was reportedly "understanding and respectful" though "sad and upset," she later broached divorce discussions that summer.
"You have to stay true to yourself always, right?" French Gates told People magazine in a recent interview. The divorce proceedings were "grueling," complicated by her former husband's reputation as "one of the toughest negotiators in the world."
French Gates worked with a therapist who "made it possible for me to respond to the betrayals in my marriage without betraying myself in return," she writes.
The divorce was finalized in August 2021, with French Gates receiving $6.3 billion in Microsoft stock. Now estimated to be worth $30 billion, she continues her philanthropic work through Pivotal Ventures.
"I'm not trying to give advice to anybody," she said, but being "real" in the book was "important" as "hopefully, it might be helpful to someone else."