Interpreter Zhe Wang Denies Wild Bill & Melinda Gates Rumor
There are some wild rumors circulating regarding what really happened between Bill and Melinda Gates, who announced their intent to a divorce in a joint statement via Twitter May 3. "After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," they wrote. The couple, who met in the 1980s when Melinda joined Bill's Microsoft firm (per BBC), were married for 27 years and had three children.
"We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives," the statement continued. "We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life."
So what went wrong? Keep scrolling to find out why people think Bill and Melinda's interpreter may have had something to do with their split — and what she has to say for herself.
Zhe Wang called the rumors 'vicious' and 'unfounded'
Renowned interpreter Zhe "Shelly" Wang has worked with Bill and Melinda Gates for quite some time according to her now-disabled LinkedIn (via Page Six) — and her relationship with the Microsoft co-founder came into question following his divorce announcement. Although there is no reason to suggest the two were anything more than co-workers, many ran with the rumor and dragged Wang's name through the mud, forcing her to speak out and publicly deny her involvement in the couple's split.
"I thought that the rumors would go away by themselves, but I did not expect the rumors to become more and more crazily spread," she wrote on theChinese social media site Weibo, per Page Six. "How many books can I read, so why spend time on the unfounded rumors?" She went on to thank those who expressed their "concern" and everyone who helped in "dispelling the rumors through private messages in the past 24 hours."
Bill and Melinda had yet to speak out about the rumors, but it turns out, their divorce may have been a long time coming. According to The New York Times, "there were several times when the relationship neared collapse, but they worked to keep it together." So while we may not know the full scope of what went wrong, we can at least point fingers away from Wang.