Melinda French Gates resigns as co-chair from the Gates Foundation

[SouthBayDem]

Source: NPR

Melinda French Gates, one of the world's wealthiest philanthropists, announced Monday she is resigning as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — a foundation she has helped lead since its start in 2000.

In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter), the 59-year-old said she was "immensely proud" of the work of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the decision to step down as co-chair was not easy.

French Gates says that her last day with the foundation is June 7.

"This is not a decision I came to lightly," she wrote on X. "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."

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2024/05/13/1250996010/melinda-gates-resigns-from-gates-foundation-philanthropy-donations

[JohnnyRingo]

1. I find it odd that she's disassociating herself from the foundation.

It seems she could remain on as a figurehead, a chairwoman who doesn't have to commit to daily machinations of the organization.
But it appears she's walking away altogether. Why is that?

On edit:
After reading the article in full: I might understand what she's doing, but it still looks like the next level of her divorce. Like she doesn't want to be associated with her ex-husband, and leaving with a settlement of $12b for her own charities.

[FemDemERA]

2. Thought I remembered it was something they agreed to when they split and

I found this from July 2021.

as an additional step, they have agreed that if after two years either one of them decides that they cannot continue to work together, Melinda will resign as co-chair and trustee. In such a case, Melinda would receive personal resources from Bill for her philanthropic work. These resources would be completely separate from the foundation’s endowment, which would not be affected.

https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articles/gates-foundation-trustees-commitment

[myohmy2]

3. yawn...

...