Photos: Bill and Melinda Gates through the years
Bill and Melinda Gates announced Monday that they are divorcing. Here's a gallery of photos of the couple through the years:
FILE - In this Jan. 9, 1994, file photo, computer mogul Bill Gates III and bride Melinda French greet guests in a reception line at a private estate in Seattle. The couple was married in Hawaii the week prior. Bill and Melinda Gates announced Monday, May 3, 2021, that they are divorcing. The Microsoft co-founder and his wife, with whom he launched the world's largest charitable foundation, said they would continue to work together at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In identical tweets the Gates said they had made the decision to end their marriage of 27 years. (AP Photo/Dave Weaver, File)
FILE - In this May 4, 2001, file photo, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates contends with an ill-fitting hard hat while his wife, Melinda Gates, looks on in Seattle at the groundbreaking of the University of Washington's new law school facility, William H. Gates Hall. The couple announced Monday, May 3, 2021, that they are divorcing. (AP Photo/Andy Rogers, File)
President Barack Obama, accompanied by Melinda Gates, left, presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Bill Gates, center, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Microsoft tycoon Bill Gates, watched by his wife Melinda, poses with the insignia of an honorary knighthood at Buckingham Palace in London, Wednesday March 2, 2005, after receiving it from Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. Gates, one of the richest men in the world, cannot use the title "Sir" as he is not a British citizen, but received the KBE insignia, in recognition of his charitable donations in Commonwealth countries. (AP Photo/Chris Young, pool)
Bill Gates, left, and Melinda Gates, look at their 2010 J. William Fulbright Prize for International Understanding during a ceremony honoring the couple's philanthropic work at the Library of Congress in Washington, on Friday, Oct. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
FILE - In this Dec. 5, 2005, file photo, Bill Gates, founder and chairman of Microsoft Corp., center, and his wife Melinda, left, walk on a street in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The couple announced Monday, May 3, 2021, that they are divorcing. (AP Photo/Gazi Sarwar, File)
Former President Barack Obama, left, speaks with Bill Gates, right, and his wife Melinda Gates, during a conversation at the Goalkeepers Conference hosted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates, left, his wife Melinda Gates, and his father William H. Gates, Sr. prepare for the official groundbreaking of the University of Washington's new law school facility Friday, May 4, 2001, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Andy Rogers)
Microsoft's Bill and Melinda Gates walk the annual Allen & Co. media conference in a file photo from July 12, 2003, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/Douglas C. Pizac, File)
Philanthropist and co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, left, and his wife Melinda after being awarded the Legion of Honour at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Friday, April 21, 2017. French President Francois Hollande presented Bill and Melinda Gates with the joint award for their philanthropic activities, notably the Microsoft founder's efforts to improve public health and encourage development in poor countries. (AP Photo/Kamil Zihnioglu, Pool)
In this Wednesday, March 23, 2011 photo Microsoft Corp. founder and philanthropist Bill Gates, right, and his wife Melinda Gates attend to a child as they meet with members of the Mushar community at Jamsot Village near Patna, India. (AP Photo/Aftab Alam Siddiqui)
FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2019, file photo, Bill and Melinda Gates smile at each other during an interview in Kirkland, Wash. The couple announced Monday, May 3, 2021, that they are divorcing. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, File)
Bill Gates, left, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, second from left, Melinda Gates, second from right and Alfred Sommer, Chairman of the Board of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation pose for a photo during the 2013 Lasker Awards ceremony, Friday, Sept. 20, 2013 at the Pierre Hotel in New York. Bill and Melinda Gates received the 2013 Lasker Bloomberg Pubic Service Award. Since 1945 the Lasker Awards has recognized the contributions of scientists, physicians, and public servants who have made major advances in the understanding, diagnosis, treatment, cure, and prevention of human disease. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Melinda, far left, and Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and chairman watch from the left, as William H. Gates Sr., Wash. Gov. Gary Locke and Mimi Gates cut the ribbon during the dedication and grand opening of the William H. Gates Hall, new home of the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle, Friday, Sept. 12, 2003. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
Bill Gates, left, and Melinda Gates address a forum of 300 malaria scientists and policy makers Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2007, in Seattle. The Gates' appealed to the group to join in the goal of eradicating the disease worldwide. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Microsoft founder Bill Gates, left, and his wife Melinda, 2nd left, watch the swimming competitions in the National Aquatics Center at the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Melinda Gates, left, throws her arm around husband Bill Gates as he introduces her to speak at the opening reception of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Thursday, June 2, 2011, in Seattle. The foundation formally opened the new headquarters Thursday evening, moving from scattered nondescript office buildings around Seattle to an architectural showcase in the center of its hometown. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
Seated left to right are, Microsoft founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates, Chairman Wipro Ltd. Azim Premji, Gates' wife Melinda Gates and billionaire investor Warren Buffett at a press conference in New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 24, 2011. (AP Photo/ Mustafa Quraishi)
Chairman of Microsoft Corporation Bill Gates, center, his wife Melinda Gates, right, and an unidentified friend attend the traditional Inti Raymi ceremony in Cuzco, Peru, Sunday, June 24, 2007. (AP Photo)
Microsoft Corporation Chairman Bill Gates, talks to reporters outside of U.S. District Court as his wife, Melinda, left, listens April 24, 2002 in a Washington file photo. Microsoft Corp. said after the bell Thursday that Gates will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2009 file photo, co-chairs of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USA, Bill Gates, right, and Melinda Gates, sit together prior to an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, file)
Bill and Melinda Gates arrive to a morning session at the annual Allen & Co.'s media summit in Sun Valley, Idaho, Friday, July 10, 2009. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)
Bill Gates, left, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett pose for a picture after a press conference Monday, June 26, 2006 in New York. Warren Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, recently announced his intention of giving 10 million shares of his company to charitable organizations, the majority going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Bill Gates, left, poses with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, center, and Melinda Gates, right, at the United Nations headquarters Friday, Sept. 25, 2015. The United Nations is conducting the Sustainable Development Summit with the goal of adopting of a post-2015 development agenda. (AP Photo/Kevin Hagen)
In this Feb. 1, 2018 photo, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda pose for a photo before an interview with The Associated Press in Kirkland, Wash. Gates and his wife, head the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are rethinking their work in America as they confront what they consider an unsatisfactory track record, the country's growing inequity and a president they disagree with more than any other. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Bill Gates and wife, Melinda Gates, middle row, attend the quarterfinals match of Roger Federer, of Switzerland, and Hubert Hurkacz, of Poland, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Friday, March 15, 2019, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
FILE - In this Sep. 16, 2019 file photo, Melinda Gates, left, talks to Indian author Chetan Bhagat, unseen, as Bill Gates looks at the audience during an interaction organized by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation in New Delhi, India. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)
In the divorce of Melinda and Bill Gates, the division of their vast wealth is unlikely to cause fireworks and fury. Here's why.