Melinda French Gates co-founded the Giving Pledge in 2010 alongside Warren Buffett and her then-husband Bill Gates.
Angela Lang/CNETMelinda French Gates, the former wife of billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, now plans to donate most of her wealth to philanthropic endeavors apart from the Gates Foundation, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.
Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates pledged in 2010 to give the majority of their money to their foundation, whose endowment has soared over $50 billion. The couple, alongside Warren Buffett, founded the Giving Pledge that year to push the ultra-wealthy to give over half of their wealth to charity.
After announcing their divorce in May 2021, they published separate Giving Pledge letters for the first time in November. In hers, French Gates maintained her initial commitment to giving away over half of her wealth but didn’t specify that the Gates Foundation would be the recipient. The Wall Street Journal reported that she would instead spread it among different philanthropies, citing “people familiar with the matter.”
The Gates Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
