WASHINGTON: Bill and Melinda Gates have announced their divorce after 27 years of marriage.

Posting a twitter message, the couple said they could no longer grow together as a couple.

“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage,” the pair tweeted.

They first met in the 1980s when Melinda joined Bill’s Microsoft firm.

The billionaire couple have three children and jointly run the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

The organization has spent billions fighting causes such as infectious diseases and encouraging vaccinations in children.

Bill Gates is the fourth wealthiest person in the world, according to Forbes, and is worth $124bn (£89bn).

He made his money through the firm he co-founded in the 1970s, Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company.

(With inputs from BBC)