Nigerians have reacted on Twitter to the divorce between Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda Gates.
On Monday night, May 3, the couple announced that they have ended their marriage after 27 years, saying they “no longer believe we can grow together as a couple.”
The couple said that the decision came after a “great deal of thought and work.”
They said they no longer believe they can grow together as a couple in this “next phase” of their lives.
The Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist and his wife have built up a combined $124 billion (£89 billion) fortune, making them among the five richest couples in the world.
The surprise announcement comes less than two weeks after the pair appeared virtually at an event for healthcare workers fighting the pandemic.
Microsoft co-founder, Bill Gates, met Melinda French after she started working at Microsoft in 1987. The two married on January 1, 1994, and raised three children together.
Nigerians reacting on Twitter describe the news as “very disturbing” and wondered why one of the richest men in the world couldn’t keep his wife with all the money he has. While some said the divorce news is a perfect example of Money can’t buy happiness.
Some Nigerians attributed the cause of the duo’s divorce on lack of love and trust, adding that money could not buy true love.
An Ex Ultimate Love Guest, Onyekachi Ucheagwu tweeted that “the attraction is the external appearance of something; it is not a reliable indication of its true nature.
“27 years of what appeared to be unending happiness just crashed; moral lesson, all that glitters is not gold and money cannot buy true love.
A former Big Brother African and Media Personality, Uti Nwachukwu questions the essence of marriage if the couple can separate after being together for many years.
He wrote, “What is the point of getting divorced in your 60s/70s… I just don’t get it!!
“At that age what could possibly be the problem that cannot be resolved?
“This marriage thing no be scam so? How many are truly happily married.
“Some just smile to us but tolerate in unhappiness till death do them part.
“l have come to believe that the average human being is selfish and just wants their needs met regardless of their vows or how it makes their partners feel,” he tweeted.
Another Twitter fan, Abidemi Iromini reacted by saying that human beings are intrinsically selfish.
“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the pair said in a joint statement posted on Twitter.
The couple, who jointly run the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a huge funder of global health and disease prevention initiatives, including the fight against COVID-19, said they would continue to run the foundation together.
Other Billionaires Who Divorced Their Wives
Jeff Bezos, Mackenzie Bezos
This divorce happened in 2019 which saw the Amazon CEO give a 4% stake in Amazon to his wife, MacKenzie as part of the divorce agreement. Forbes reports that after the divorce, Mackenzie Bezos became the world’s, third-richest woman. On the other hand, sources say Jeff’s fortune fell from $159 billion to $121 billion after the divorce. Two years later, the fortune ballooned to $202 billion.
Bill Gross and Sue Gross, 2016
Sue Gross filed for a divorce in 2016 and walked out of their marriage. This divorce is one of the known messy divorces across the world. Sources say that divorce left Bill Gross, founder of asset-manager Pimco, in a deteriorated financial and mental situation.
Forbes reports Sue managed to walk out with a fortune amounting to $1.3 billion, which included a $36 million Laguna Beach house and “Le Repos,” which she later sold for $35 million.
Harold Hamm and Sue Ann Arnall-2015
The 26-year-old marriage ended after bitter court proceedings, starting from 2012 until 2015 when oil tycoon Harold tried to finally end the marriage with Sue Ann by writing her a check in the amount of $974,790,317.77 from his Morgan Stanley account.
She took the money, banked it and later filed a petition for more amount. However, the Supreme Court ruled against her by saying signing and banking the first check meant she had accepted it.
Roy E. and Patricia Disney
The couple divorced after 52 years in marriage. Roy and his wife filed for divorce in 2007 at the ages of 77 and 72, respectively. According to Forbes, Roy was worth $1.3 billion at the time he divorced Disney.
Previously a Forbes 400 mainstay, he lost nearly half of his fortune in the split and was dropped from the list. He later married another wife. Fortunately, Roy and Disney all passed away.
Steve and Elaine Wynn
(With inputs from NAN)
