Little is known on why Bill Gates and his wife, Melinda French Gates are headed to divorce after 27 years of marriage.

According to several rumors, a Chinese interpreter who works for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is responsible for destroying the Microsoft founder's marriage to his wife.

36-year-old Zhe "Shelly" Wang, however, has come forward to deny the wild online rumors.

She aired out her frustration on the Chinese social media website Weibo on Wednesday, slamming the "unfounded rumors" that she had an affair with Bill Gates, who has a net worth of $130.5 billion.

"I originally thought the rumor would be self-defeating from groundless sources, but I didn't expect it to get more crazy," Zhe posted in Mandarin.

"Thank you for your concern over the past 24 hours through private messages, and friends who helped me dispel rumors."

It's unclear what led the translator to be the target of these rumors, other than pictures she posted online of her engagement for the Gates Foundation. However, it immediately spread like wildfire on Chinese social media.

A friend close to Zhe was even shocked by the rumors and defended her on a blog post.

LI Donglei wrote, "She is a former colleague of mine, a very clean girl, and a person I admire. I don't believe she would get involved in other people's marriages."

"I think it is entirely my instinct that Wang Zhe can't do this kind of thing."

Who is Zhe 'Shelly' Wang - The Woman Allegedly Responsible for Bill, Melinda Gates' Divorce

Zhe 'Shelly' Wang, lives in Seattle and is unmarried. As per Li, Zhe grew up in Guangzhou, China, and later immigrated to the US.

She attended Birmingham Young University and received her degree in Business/Managerial Economics in 2007.

For two years since 2006, Zhe owned a restaurant in Provo, Utah, the Four Seasons Hot Pot and Dumplings, as per her LinkedIn profile which is now deleted.

She later became an accomplished professional translator as she's proficient in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English. Zhe studied Conference Interpretation at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and later worked for them in Sept. 2012.

Later on, Zhe later worked as a translator for Harvard Business School, Yale School of Management, and of course, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but her work for Gates Foundation is in a freelance capacity.

Bill and Melinda Gates' Divorce

What prompted Bill and Melinda Gates to divorce remains unclear to this day.

In Melinda's petition, she said she didn't need spousal support but it is expected that a settlement will be privately negotiated if it hasn't been decided yet.

The couple also has reportedly no prenup, now, their assets are up for grab.

When they announced their divorce, Bill reportedly transferred $1.8 billion in stock to Melinda, in what seems to be the first of the many public transactions they will be made to divide their massive wealth.

Tags
Bill gates, Melinda Gates, Bill gates net worth, Bill gates divorce, Melinda gates divorce, Bill gates melinda gates divorce, Bill and melinda gates foundation