Bill Gates, 65, may be headed for a divorce from his wife Melinda Gates, 56, but he hasn’t yet taking off his wedding ring. The Microsoft founder spoke during a scheduled video conference for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on May 19, and as he was making remarks on camera, he lifted his hands and showed off the gold band, which you can see in the screen grab below. YOU CAN ALSO SEE THE VIDEO HERE. This new appearance is one of the first he’s made since announcing his intent to divorce Melinda, who he married in 1994.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce's two-day Global Forum on Economic Recovery concluded today with an Armchair Conversation with Bill Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. U.S. Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) talked about America's Role in the World. pic.twitter.com/gTTJ754SN9
— Elmhurst Chamber (@elmhurstchamber) May 19, 2021
Although his wedding ring got a lot of attention during the video conference, Bill didn’t seem to try and hide it. Since he’s still technically married, he may just be waiting until the divorce is finalized to take that big step and remove it, but, of course, that’s unclear.
Seeing Bill’s wedding ring still on his finger does come as a bit of a surprise considering the headlines that have been making their way around the internet and beyond lately. After he and Melinda took to social media to share the shocking news of their divorce on May 3, rumors began to circulate about him having an extramarital affair. After the Wall Street Journal reported that the Microsoft board of directors tried to remove him from the board in 2020 after an investigation into a relationship with an employee, Bill admitted to cheating on his soon-to-be ex-wife.
He also resigned from the board in Mar. 2020, but insisted it had nothing to do with the 2019 investigation into the alleged relationship with the employee. “There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably. Bill’s decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter,” a spokesperson for him told WSJ. “In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier.”
In the midst of his divorce and affair news, Bill has remained mostly out of the spotlight and it’s been reported that he’s been staying at The Vintage Club, an ultra-exclusive golf club in Indian Wells, California, for at least three months. “Bill clearly saw this divorce coming for a long time because he’s been there for around three months,” a source told Page Six.