Bill Gates had 'arrangement' with wife Melinda to meet ex-girlfriend once a year: Report

Bill and Melinda Gates, who announced their divorce on May 4 after nearly 27 years of marriage, had an ‘arrangement’ that allowed Microsoft co-founder to meet with ex-girlfriend Ann Winblad. As per People report, before Melinda joined Microsoft as a product manager in 1987 and met with Bill, the former World’s richest man had been dating Ann Winblad, a software entrepreneur and venture capitalist. According to Time, Bill and Anna developed a ‘strong bond’ and the billionaire ensured that he keeps her in life after they split in 1987.

In 1997, Walter Isaacson reported in his Time story on Bill’s life and career, “Even now, Gates has an arrangement with his wife that he and Winblad can keep one vacation tradition alive.” The report further stated that every spring, for over a decade, Bill spends a long weekend with Ann at her beach cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, “where they ride dune buggies, hang-glide and walk on the beach." Bill told the magazine in 1997 that “We can play putt-putt while discussing biotechnology.”

Further, Ann added to Time, “We share our thoughts about the world and ourselves. And we marvel about how, as two young overachievers, we began a great adventure on the fringes of a little-known industry and it landed us at the center of an amazing universe.” In the same magazine profile, Bill had made the revelation that he actually asked his ex-girlfriend for her “approval” before asking Melinda to marry him. 

Bill, who was already the youngest US billionaire at the time, reportedly negotiated one long weekend every year with Ann which was the couple’s ‘arrangement.’ It was Ann who personally persuaded Bill to marry Melinda, as per the report saying that the future spouse was “a good match for him because she had intellectual stamina.” Following the announcement of Gates’ divorce, the tiny detail by Author Megan Stack went viral on Twitter.

Bill Gates And Melinda Gates Decide To End Their Marriage

On May 4, Bill and Melinda Gates announced that they are ending their marriage, The couple said in a statement, “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...We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.” Just last year, Bill had also announced that he was stepping down from Microsoft’s board to focus on philanthropy.

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