Bill Gates was seen wearing a wedding ring, two weeks after announcing his split from wife Melinda Gates, during a virtual event on Wednesday.
The wedding band was visible on the ring finger of the left hand of the Microsoft co-founder who was part of an “armchair conversation” with the US Chamber of Commerce CEO Suzanne Clark to discuss pointers about the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We’ve learned a lot that will help us for the next pandemic and by making some investments in [research and development], and then having factories available, having surveillance and a big team of experts on a global basis, we will next time handle something like this without anywhere near the damage that we had to go through,” Mr Gates said.
This is the first major event Mr Gates attended after announcing his divorce.
According to reports, the American business tycoon has transferred nearly $3 billion to Melinda Gates since they began their divorce proceedings.
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Ms Gates received $850 million worth of shares in the landscaping company, John Deere, from her estranged husband. This is on top of the other transfers of wealth, such as shares in firms like Coca-Cola Femsa and Canadian railway company AutoNation, according to reports.
Recently, a spokesperson for Mr Gates acknowledged that the billionaire had an affair at Microsoft almost 20 years ago.
The Wall Street Journal reported that members of the board at Microsoft pursued an investigation into the billionaire founder’s affair after they were informed of a letter sent by a female employee in 2019, alleging that she and Mr Gates had a sexual relationship over the years.
Several board members grew concerned, according to the report, and felt that Mr Gates should step down from leadership roles with the company while the investigation continued into the matter.
According to another report, the software developer has been riding out his high-profile divorce by hiding away in an ultra-exclusive golf club in California for the last few months.
The New York Post’s Page Six gossip column cited an anonymous source familiar with the situation who said the billionaire was keeping his head down at The Vintage Club, which advertises itself as “one of the United States’ most prestigious and ultra-exclusive private country club communities.”
