Bill Gates and wife Melinda announce divorce after 27 years of marriage

Bill Gates and wife Melinda have announced they are divorcing after 27 years of marriage.

The news of the split was shared by the couple on social media with a series of  Tweets that read, 'After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage.'

The statement continued, “Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives."

The message on the Microsoft mogul's Twitter account went on to say, "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 the next phase of our lives.

"We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life."

Bill and Melinda met in the 1980s when Melinda was working for Microsoft.

The couple married in Hawaii in 1994, allegedly after Bill and Melinda made a pro/con list to see if they'd have a successful marriage.

With the couple agreeing to go their separate ways, they will continue to co-parent their three kids - Jennifer, 25, Rory, 21, and 18-year-old Phoebe.

Bill previously opened up on plans for his children to inherit just $10million each of his estimated $124billion net worth, admitting he didn't feel that leaving more to them would be beneficial.

"I definitely think leaving kids massive amounts of money is not a favour to them," he said during a Reddit AMA session in 2013.