Nathan Congleton/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/ Getty, Tyler Le/BI
- Melinda French Gates has resigned as cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
- The couple divorced in 2021 but French Gates said she was staying at the nonprofit.
- French Gates said she's moving into the next stage of her philanthropy with $12.5 billion to give.
Melinda French Gates announced on Monday she's resigning as cochair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"The time is right for me to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy," she said in a statement on X.
French Gates added that she'll have "an additional $12.5 billion to commit to my work on behalf of women and families" thanks to an agreement with her ex-husband, the Microsoft cofounder and billionaire Bill Gates.