Bill Gates and his wife files for divorce, because they can't grow "together"

Microsoft founder Bill Gates and his wife and fellow philanthropist Melinda announced Monday evening that they are divorcing after a 27-year marriage. The announcement of one of the richest couples in the world, with an estimated net worth of about $ 130 billion, was made in a joint statement on Twitter.

"After much thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we made the decision to end our marriage," they said.

The statement said they would continue their joint work on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the major charity that funds programs in global health, gender equality, education and other matters. "We continue to have faith in the mission and will continue our work at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow collectively as a couple in this next stage of our lives." The decision comes two years after the divorce of Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, another of the richest people in the world, and his wife, MacKenzie.

Bill Gates, 65, was a geeky teen when he began the most valuable company in the world, and he was for a time the richest man and most important philanthropist in the world.

He retired as CEO of Microsoft in 2008 to spend more time on philanthropy and later left the board, retaining only the title of 'Founder and Technology Advisor'.

Melinda Gates, 56, married her husband in 1994 while working at the technology firm. They have three children together.