Bill Gates has opened up about the infamous affair he had with a Microsoft employee nearly 20 years ago.
The billionaire stepped down from the Microsoft board in March 2020, before splitting up with his wife of 27 years, Melinda, in May 2021.
Their divorce was finalized earlier this week, and now he's opened up about the past, listing his "regrets" during his ill-fated union.
Speaking to CNN's Anderson Cooper, Gates' infamous affair came up during the conversation.
When asked about it, the 65-year-old said: "Certainly, I think everyone does [have regrets].
"But it's a time of reflection and at this point I need to go forward. My work is very important to me. Within the family we'll heal as best we can and learn from what happened."
The Microsoft founder went on to praise Melinda and said they were hoping to continue their working partnership through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
"Melinda's a great person and that partnership that we had coming to an end is a great source of great personal sadness," he went on.
"We are communicating and working at the foundation and so that partnership we're going to try to continue. Melinda has incredible strengths that she brings that help the foundation be better.
"We've always enjoyed our work together. The two of us can go out and work with leaders and help build the organization so that would definitely be the best thing for the foundation."
The pair tied the knot in 1994, and went on to welcome three kids.
After the pair announced shock news of their split in May, a spokesperson for Gates said that the affair ended "amicably" and was not the reason behind his resignation from the board.
"There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably," the spokesperson said.
"Bill's decision to transition off the board was in no way related to this matter. In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier."
Microsoft said it was conducting a "thorough investigation".
The spokesperson went on: "Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000.
"A committee of the board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm, to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern."
When he left Microsoft's board last year, Gates said he was stepping down to focus on philanthropy.
He said: "I have made the decision to step down from both of the public boards on which I serve - Microsoft and Berkshire Hathaway - to dedicate more time to philanthropic priorities including global health and development, education, and my increasing engagement in tackling climate change.
"The leadership at the Berkshire companies and Microsoft has never been stronger, so the time is right to take this step."