Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty Images
- The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation may soon shake up its governance.
- The foundation is considering adding a board and bringing in outside directors, per a WSJ report.
- Gates and French Gates want to protect the foundation after their divorce, sources said.
- See more stories on Insider's business page.
Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates are considering shaking up their $50-billion foundation by bringing in outside directors in the wake of their divorce, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal reported French Gates had pushed for governance changes at The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in recent weeks to protect it after their planned divorce.
The foundation currently has three trustees: Gates, French Gates, and billionaire investor Warren Buffett. The couple are discussing both adding a board and bringing in outside directors, The Journal reported, citing sources familiar with the couple.
The foundation has more than 1,600 staff, and is one of the world's biggest philanthropic foundations, with an endowment of $49.8 billion as of 2019.
The foundation, which the couple set up in 2000, hasn't made any changes to its governance yet, CEO Mark Suzman told the publication.
And the couple, who announced their divorce on May 3 after 27 years of marriage, still plan on working together at the foundation, Suzman added.
Read more: How the ultrarich avoid messy public divorce battles by keeping their disputes out of court
Gates and French Gates are also co-chairs of the foundation and provide strategic direction and long-term planning, while Suzman handles its day-to-day running as CEO.
Leaders at the foundation want to protect its reputation following the divorce announcement, the people told the WSJ. They added that some grant recipients had contacted the foundation with questions about Gates' ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Insider's Cheryl Teh reported that scandals that have emerged since the divorce announcement - including Gates' office affairs, "uncomfortable" workplace behavior, and ties to Epstein - have damaged Gates' public image as a "likable, nerdy do-gooder." A growing number of reports suggest a rocky relationship between the philanthropist couple in recent years, contrasting with their public statements.
Suzman: the couple remain committed to the foundation
In matching statements announcing their divorce, the couple had said that they would continue their work together after the divorce, and a spokesperson for the foundation told The New York Post that "no changes to their roles or the organization are planned."
But Suzman told the WSJ that he, Gates, French Gates, and Buffett were discussing possible steps to "strengthen the long-term sustainability and stability of the foundation given the co-chairs' divorce." He noted that no decisions had been made.
"Bill and Melinda have reaffirmed their commitment to the foundation and continue to work together on behalf of our mission," he said. "These discussions are part of their prudent planning for the future."
The foundation has funded work in areas including global health, emergency relief, education, and poverty, giving around $5 billion in grants annually, and has pumped around $1.75 billion into COVID-19 relief efforts.
Gates stepped down as the CEO of Microsoft in 2008 to focus on the foundation, and left the boards of Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway in March 2020 for the same reason.