The main reason Bill Gates & Melinda Gates are divorcing after 27 years of marriage

Bill and Melinda Gates, one of the world's richest couples with a fortune of $130billion, are getting divorced - with Melinda saying the marriage is 'irretrievably broken' in divorce filings that also reveal the couple have no prenup agreement.

Bill, 64, and Melinda, 56, met in 1987 - the same year he became the world's youngest billionaire at the age of 31 - married in Hawaii in 1994, and have three children together: Jennifer, 25, Rory, 21, and Phoebe 18. 

They also established the world's largest charitable foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in 2000 which has contributed more than $50billion to causes including eradicating polio and malaria. The foundation has also been a major investor in coronavirus treatments. 

In a joint statement posted to their Twitter accounts on Monday, the pair said their work with the foundation will continue but their marriage will not, adding: 

'We no longer feel we are able to grow as a couple in this next phase of our lives.' While the couple have no prenup, it appears a lot of the work of dividing up their estate - which includes properties in five states, a private jet, an astonishing art collection and a fleet of luxury cars - has already been done, as their divorce papers repeatedly refer to a 'separation contract' which both have signed. 

The contract itself has not been made public. 

The reason behind their split after over a quarter-century remains a mystery but Melinda has previously suggested her husband had trouble balancing work and family. 

Culled From DailyMail.