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Bill and Melinda Gates: A life in pictures

Getty Images Bill Gates and Melinda Gates attend the Global Champions Tour of Monaco in Monte-Carlo, 23 June 2017Getty Images
Bill Gates and Melinda Gates attended the Global Champions Tour of Monaco in Monte-Carlo in 2017

Bill and Melinda Gates have announced they are ending their marriage after 27 years because they "no longer believe we can grow as a couple in the next phase of our lives".

The couple set up the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - a non-profit agency that set out to fight poverty, disease and inequity around the world - in 2000.

Mr Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft who made his fortune developing software for the personal computer, stepped down from his day-to-day role running the tech company in 2008.

The couple first met in the 1980s when Melinda joined the Microsoft firm.

Mr Gates is the fourth wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, and is worth $124bn (£89bn).

Getty Images Bill Gates and wife Melinda Gates donate a $100M cheque to the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health in 1998Getty Images
The pair donated a $100M cheque to the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health in 1998
Getty Images Bill Gates arrives at U.S. District Court with his wife Melinda April 22, 2002 in Washington, DC. Gates is taking the witness stand to give his first live testimony since the antitrust case was filed against the software giant in 1998.Getty Images
Melinda accompanied her husband when he took the witness stand during an antitrust case against Microsoft in 2002
Getty Images Bill and Melinda Gates take part in a discussion in Brussels organised by British magazine The Economist about expected breakthroughs in the next 15 years in health, education, farming and banking, 2015Getty Images
Bill and Melinda took part in a discussion in Brussels in 2015 organised by British magazine The Economist about expected breakthroughs in the next 15 years in health, education, farming and banking
Getty Images Queen Elizabeth II presents Bill Gates with his honorary knighthood at Buckingham Palace, alongside his wife Melinda, in London 2015Getty Images
Queen Elizabeth II presented Bill Gates with his honorary knighthood at Buckingham Palace in London, alongside his wife Melinda, in 2015
Getty Images Bill and Melinda Gates with then-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations in 2015Getty Images
Bill and Melinda met then-UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations in 2015
Getty Images President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to philanthropists Bill and Melinda GatesGetty Images
Then-US President Barack Obama awarded the pair the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016
Getty Images Bill and Melinda Gates pose in front of the Élysée Palace after receiving the award of Commander of the Legion of Honor by French President Francois Hollande, 21 April 2017Getty Images
The couple were awarded the Légion d'Honneur - France's highest honour - by French President François Hollande in 2017 for their philanthropic efforts
Getty Images Businessman and philanthropist Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates having fun in the stands during a tennis match between Hubert Hurkacz (Poland) and Roger Federer (Switzerland) during the BNP Paribas Open on March 15, 2019Getty Images
The couple enjoying a moment during a tennis match between Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and Swiss player Roger Federer in 2019
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