- Melinda French Gates said she struggled leading up to and during her divorce from Bill Gates.
- French Gates wrote about her nightmares and feeling panicky in her new memoir, “The Next Day.”
- Their divorce was finalized in 2021, over a year after their private separation.
Breakups are difficult, even if you are certain to walk away a billionaire.
Melinda French Gates’ divorce from Bill Gates was years in the making, prompted by nightmares and bouts of panic that forced her to confront her emotions, she told People in an interview.
Gates and French Gates announced their separation in a joint statement in 2021. In her forthcoming memoir, “The Next Day,” she discusses her emotions leading up to their official divorce. French Gates claimed she began having cryptic nightmares in 2019 that caused her to panic. The final blow was a vision of herself falling into a void while her family stood on the edge of a cliff.
French Gates stated that this was the moment she realized it was time for her to make a major life decision on her own. In 2020, she informed her then-husband that she wanted to live separately.
“It was one of the scariest conversations I would have had,” she said.
Gates, on the other hand, was “understanding and respectful” after hearing the news, despite being “sad and upset,” according to French Gates. Months later, in the summer of 2020, she asked for a divorce.
Her panic did not stop with that revelation. French Gates claimed she began “having panic attacks” in the months leading up to their divorce proceedings.
“Bill has a reputation for being one of the toughest negotiators in the world,” Gates wrote in a letter.
Their divorce was finalized in August 2021 following “grueling” and lengthy proceedings, she wrote in her memoir. Forbes reported that she walked away with $6.3 billion in Microsoft stock, bringing her net worth to an estimated $30 billion.
French Gates is currently pursuing philanthropic endeavors through her company, Pivotal Ventures, while also reportedly dating. Late last year, she was spotted holding hands with Philip Vaughn, a former Microsoft employee and entrepreneur.
