Melinda French Gates announces shock resignation from the Gates Foundation - 'Not a decision made lightly'

Melinda said she was "immensely proud" of the foundation - which she and Bill started in 2000.

In 2021, after 27 years of marriage, the pair announced their separation.

Melinda's last day of work at the foundation - which is the largest private body of its kind - will be June 7.

The Gates Foundation is recognised as one of the most powerful organisations in global philanthropy and spends billions of dollars every year on initiatives aimed at eradicating infectious diseases, reducing poverty and combatting climate change.

She wrote on social media: "This is not a decision I came to lightly. I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world.

"The time is right for me to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy."

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The Gates Foundation holds $75.2billion (£59.88billion) in its endowment as of December 2023.

It announced in January that the foundation planned to spend $8.6billion (£6.85billion) through the course of its work in 2024.

Bill thanked French Gates for her "critical" contributions to the foundations, saying: "I am sorry to see her leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work."

The couple donated more than $36billion (£28billion) of their own wealth to it from 1994 to 2018, according to the foundation's website.

Following her resignation, the Foundation will change its name to the "Gates Foundation", Foundation CEO Mark Suzman said.

"Bill will become the sole Chair of the foundation," Suzman wrote.

Bill's fortune is listed at $11.3billion.