Melinda Gates announces resignation from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

(NBC, KYMA/KECY) - Melinda French Gates announced she is stepping down from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation on Monday.

In a statement posted on Instagram, Gates said that as part of her agreement to resign she will retain $12.5 billion which she will use in her work to support families and women.

She wrote in part, "I am immensely proud of the foundation that Bill and I built together and of the extraordinary work it is doing to address inequities around the world."

The move comes three years after she and husband Bill Gates, the co-founder of microsoft, had separated. They have since finalized their divorce.

Bill Gates said, in a statement posted on his X account, "I am sorry to see melinda leave, but I am sure she will have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work."

The foundation, among the largest donor organizations in the world, has made more than $77 billion of grant payments focusing on health and developmental goals.