Bill Gates-Melinda divorce: SHOCKING reason behind the split of billionaire couple

Billionaire couple Bill Gates and Melinda Gates left everyone in shock after they announced few days ago about their decision to split after remaining married for 27 long years. According to reports, the marriage of Bill and Milnda Gates was 'irretrievably broken' since 2019 over the former's ties with Jeffrey Epstein.

Sources claimed that Melinda started meeting with divorce lawyers at least a year before announcing her divorce with Bill Gates. Epstein was awaiting trial on federal charges related to sex trafficking when he died behind bars two months before the start of the high-profile trial.

A report in Wall Street Journal mentioned that Melinda was concerned over her husband's dealings with Epstein. The report added that Melinda's concern over Bill's ties to Epstein started way back in 2013.

In 2019, the New York Times had reported that Gates had met with Epstein several times and even stayed at Epstein's New York townhouse. The report claimed that meetings between Gates and Epstein took place over philanthropy.

For his part, Bill Gates had told the WSJ that he never shared any business relationship with Epstein.

Before his death, Epstein named venture capitalist Boris Nikolic the backup executor of his will. Nikolic had also worked as a science advisor to Bill Gates. 

Who was Jeffrey Epstein

Epstein was a financier who had relations with several wealthy and powerful individuals. He set up his own firm J Epstein and Co in 1982 and marketed his services to people with assets more than USD 1 billion. According to Epstein's will, he was worth USD 577,672,654.

On July 8, 2019, Epstein was charged with a count of sex trafficking of a minor and a count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. He pleaded not guilty. On August 10, Epstein died by apparent suicide.