Bill Gates, co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft, and his wife, Melinda French Gates, have announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage, saying “we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple”.

The two said they will keep working together on philanthropic efforts, which have addressed education, gender equality and health care, reported CNBC.

“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” Bill and Melinda Gates said in a Tweet.

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

Bill Gates led Microsoft as CEO from its founding with Paul Allen in 1975 until 2000, leaving Steve Ballmer to take over and assuming the role of chairman and chief software architect. In 2008 Gates gave up his day-to-day role at the company to spend more time on the nonprofit Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, CNBC said in the report.

Last year Bill Gates stepped down from Microsoft’s board as the coronavirus became a force around the world. He began spending more time on the foundation alongside Melinda Gates. The two are co-chairs and trustees of the foundation, which launched in 2000.

Bill and Melinda Gates both worked at Microsoft. She had been a general manager at the software company, where she worked on products such as the Encarta encyclopaedia, according to her LinkedIn profile.

The two met at a dinner for Microsoft employees in 1987, said the CNBC report.  The couple were married in Hawaii in 1994.