Bill and Melinda Gates split after 27 years: foundation will be left unscathed
FOX News legal analyst Mercedes Colwin discusses how the power couple’s split will affect their philanthropy
A translator who works for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has denied wild rumors on social media that she was involved in their divorce.
Zhe "Shelly" Wang, who has worked as an interpreter for the foundation since March 2015, took to social media to deny speculation that she had more than a professional relationship with Bill or Melinda.
A MOMENT FROM BILL GATES' PAST IS COMING BACK TO HAUNT HIM AMID DIVORCE DRAMA
Wang, 36, purportedly wrote on Chinese social media site Weibo, "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 continued, "How many books can I read, so why spend time on the unfounded rumors?
"I would like to thank everyone for their concern and help in dispelling the rumors through private messages in the past 24 hours."
She ended her message with a link to a story titled "#Gates divorce, some vicious people rumor to vilify an innocent Chinese girl."
According to her LinkedIn profile, which has since been disabled, Wang became an interpreter for the Monterey Institute of International Studies in September 2012 and worked on several TED Conferences.
She joined TED Conferences as an interpreter in April 2013, and she oversaw a team interpreting TED events into Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish.
She also works as an interpreter for the Yale School of Management and Harvard Business School.
Little is known about the reason for the breakdown of Bill and Melinda’s marriage, but they did say in a joint statement on Monday, "After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage. 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."
They continued, "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."