Melinda Gates is set to lift the lid on her divorce from billionaire Microsoft founder Bill

Melinda Gates will lift the lid on her divorce from billionaire Microsoft founder Bill for the first time as she sits down for a tell-all interview with CBS Mornings host Gayle King.  

The 57-year-old, who shocked the world when she and Bill announced in May 2021 that they were ending their 27-year marriage, is seen in a teaser trailer for the interview – which will air on March 3 – hinting that ‘trust was broken’ in her relationship with the billionaire businessman.

A short trailer posted to Twitter by CBS Mornings sees King, 67, asking Melinda: ‘Once trust is broken, isn’t it hard to get it back?’ to which the philanthropist responded: ‘Very, it’s very hard to get it back, in any relationship.’ 

The interview – which marks the first time that Melinda has publicly addressed her split from Bill – comes 10 months after the former couple first revealed to the world that they were separating, and just seven months after they finalized their $130 billion divorce settlement. 

Melinda Gates is set to speak out about her divorce from billionaire Microsoft founder Bill for the first time in an interview with CBS Mornings, which is due to air on Thursday

In a teaser trailer for the interview, the 57-year-old philanthropist (pictured with her ex-husband in April 2021) is seen hinting that ‘trust was broken’ in their 27-year marriage 

Bill, 66, and Melinda (seen on their wedding day in 1994) shocked the world when they announced in May 2021 that they were divorcing 

However, while Bill and Melinda have remained silent about what prompted their split, just weeks after their announcement, the Microsoft founder was rocked by several accusations that he behaved inappropriately towards female employees at the tech company.  

In May 2021, multiple reports surfaced claiming the billionaire pursued extramarital affairs with women working at Microsoft; that same month, Bill’s spokesperson confirmed that he’d had an affair with a female staff member in 2000, while he was married to Melinda.

Bill was CEO of the company at the time. It is not clear what position or level of seniority the employee was. 

The affair stayed a secret until 2019 when the employee wrote a letter to the board detailing what had happened and allegedly asking that Melinda read it.

The company opened an investigation into the claims.

While the investigation was still ongoing in March 2020, Bill shocked the business world by announcing he was resigning from his position on the company board.

The ex-couple, who share three kids (pictured), have not publicly spoken out about the split, however Bill is reported to have blamed himself in an off-the-record Q&A session back in July 

Since her divorce was finalized, Melinda (seen without her wedding ring for the first time in June 2021) has thrown herself into the fight for gender equality 

The same day Bill stood down from the board of Berkshire Hathaway, run by his friend Warren Buffet.

Then, in June of last year, he announced that he was stepping down from the board of the Gates Foundation, which he and Melinda founded together, and which she continues to play an active role in as co-chair of the board. 

Although Bill has never spoken publicly about the split, he is reported to have told attendees at the Sun Valley conference in Idaho in July that the divorce was ‘his fault’. 

While attending the so-called ‘billionaire summer camp’, the Microsoft founder opened up about the couple’s pending divorce in an ‘off the record’ question-and-answer session, according to the New York Post.

In the session, a tearful Bill reportedly admitted that the breakdown of the marriage was his fault.

‘He fessed up to messing up,’ one attendee told the Post. ‘He basically referred to the fact that it [the divorce] was his fault.’

The source added: ‘He did seem a bit emotional about it. He might have been on the verge of tears.’

However, in the seven months since their divorce was finalized, the former couple has put on an amicable display, coming together in October of last year to host the wedding of their eldest child Jennifer, who tied the knot with Egyptian equestrian Nayel Nassar in a lavish ceremony at her 142-acre estate in North Salem, New York.

Melinda has also thrown herself into the fight for gender equality, pledging in June 2021 that the Gates Foundation would spend $2.1 billion on the cause over five years – one of the largest single commitments the organization had made in more than two decades.

The philanthropist’s pledge seemed to send a clear message about her split from her ex-husband; Melinda had long pushed for gender equality to be a key priority for the Seattle-based foundation, while Bill had instead prioritized polio eradication and the development of vaccines.

Melinda is set to speak out about her fight for gender equality during her CBS Mornings interview, the network revealed on Twitter – with a press release also revealing that the mother-of-three will take part in a ‘new ongoing series for Women’s History Month titled “Changing the Game”‘. 

‘CBS News correspondent Jamie Yuccas and French Gates will talk to three female titans in their industries who are changing the world: filmmaker Ava DuVernay, groundbreaking scientist Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, and labor activist Ai-Jen Poo,’ the statement reads.