The Microsoft co-founder said that his personal world was never so small as in the last twelve months.
2021 has been a year of “great personal sadness” for Bill Gates due to his divorce with his ex-wife Melinda, as acknowledged by the Microsoft co-founder himself in his summary of the year published this Tuesday on his blog.
The couple announced their divorce last May after 27 years of marriage. “Melinda and I continue to run our foundation together and we have found a new and good rhythm of work, but I cannot deny that it has been a year of great personal sadness for me. Adapting to change is never easy , no matter what it is”, confesses the philanthropist.
The fourth richest person in the world, with a net worth of almost 139,000 million dollars , according to Forbes estimates , describes 2021 as “the most unusual and difficult year” of his life and tells that due to the covid-19 pandemic He spent more time on the Internet , playing cards online with his friends or chatting with them after work.
An “empty nest”
“I went for periods of time without any face-to-face social interaction ,” says Gates, noting that the situation improved slightly after receiving the COVID vaccine. “It has been a strange and disorienting experience . My personal world has never been so small as in the last twelve months,” he continues.
For the Microsoft co-founder, one of the highlights of 2021 was the recent wedding of his eldest daughter. However, Bill Gates describes his house as an “empty nest”, as his other two children have also left to study at university. “The house is calmer without a group of teenagers hanging around all the time . I miss them, although without them it is easier to concentrate on reading a book or working,” acknowledges the tycoon.