Vthere is a divorce that will not feed the people chronicle. Strictly speaking, the chronicle finances, but it is, in reality, in the geopolitical chronicle that it finds its place: the announcement, Monday, May 3, of the separation of Bill and Melinda Gates, after twenty-seven years of marriage, has had the effect of an earthquake in the world of philanthropy, even if both claim to want to continue working together within the foundation they created a little over twenty years ago.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, whose mission is to “Fight against poverty, disease and inequality across the world”, is quite simply the world’s largest private philanthropic organization. With a fund of some 50 billion dollars (41.6 billion euros), it is the second largest contributor to the budget of the World Health Organization (WHO). In these times of pandemic, it is a crucial link in crisis exit programs on a global scale.
Microsoft co-founder and science enthusiast Bill Gates has been warning about the risk of a pandemic for several years. His foundation has extensive experience in immunization, particularly in Africa; it has invested heavily in the vaccine strategy and in the creation of Covax, the international mechanism which provides for the distribution of anti-Covid 19 vaccines in 92 poor countries.
“His” foundation? This is where the matter gets complicated. If it was the Bill Gates foundation, the news of the divorce of this 65-year-old multibillionaire, fourth fortune in the world, would have only secondary interest. But the foundation is called “Bill & Melinda Gates”; the two spouses are the co-chairs. When François Hollande presented them with the insignia of Commander of the Legion of Honor at the Elysee Palace in 2017, there were indeed two medals. The press release announcing their divorce, a decision “Well thought out”, was put on their Twitter account respective at the same time. It is signed “Melinda Gates and Bill Gates” – not “Bill & Melinda Gates” nor “Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates”, after her maiden name which she added to “Gates” for a few years. Every word counts.
The foundation, a common work
The text is brief, concise, and immediately recalls the common work that the couple considers the most important, after their three children now aged 18 to 25: the foundation. “We still share our faith in this mission and we will continue our common work at the foundation, but we no longer believe that we can progress together as a couple in the next stage of our life” : these few lines should reassure the 1,600 employees of the foundation.
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