'2021 has brought great personal sadness': Bill Gates talks about divorce, children moving out, loneliness

It has been a rough year for Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates after his split from Melinda French Gates, his wife for 27 years, the loneliness of the COVID-19 pandemic, and his transition into an ‘empty-nester’ father.

Taking to his GatesNotes blog, Bill Gates in a year-ender lookback titled: "Reasons for optimism after a difficult year" said that 2021 has been "the most unusual and difficult year" of his life. 

"Even though I think the things I've been working on are by far the most interesting part of my year, I know a lot of people are curious about a subject closer to home: my divorce. Adapting to change is never easy, no matter what it is. I’ve been impressed by how resilient my loved ones — especially my kids — have been in this challenging time,” the 66-year-old tycoon wrote. 

"Melinda and I continue to run our foundation together and have found a good new working rhythm, but I can't deny that it's been a year of great personal sadness for me.”

The couple has three children together - Jennifer, who married equestrian Nayel Nassar in October, Phoebe and Rory. Gates, in his blog post, also opened up about his new status of being an “empty nester” as all three children have moved out of his house.

“The house is a lot quieter without a bunch of teenagers hanging around all the time,” Gates wrote, adding that he does “miss having them at home, even if it is easier to focus on reading a book or getting work done these days.”