Bill and Melinda Gates are divorcing.

Bill and Melinda Gates announced Monday they are getting divorced, the couple shared a joint statement on Twitter to announce their disengagement <br /><br />"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 said, referring to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which they founded in 2000 and is now worth over $40 billion.<br /><br />"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," they concluded in the statement.<br /><br />The Microsoft co-founder, 65, and the philanthropist and former general manager at Microsoft, 56, married on the Hawaiian island of Lanai on Jan. 1, 1994. They have three children: son Rory John, 21, and daughters Phoebe Adele, 18, and Jennifer Katharine, 25.