Bill Gates responds to allegations he was unfaithful in his marriage

A year after Bill and Melinda Gates announced in a joint statement that they were getting divorced after 27 years, Bill Gates reflected on the breakup and responded to allegations that infidelity was a looming factor in their split.

"The divorce is definitely a sad thing," the billionaire Microsoft co-founder told Savannah Guthrie on TODAY Tuesday. "I have responsibility for causing a lot of pain to my family. It was a tough year. I feel good that all of us are moving forward now.

"Melinda and I are continuing to work together. It was sad and tragic, but now we’re moving together."

Asked if he had ever been unfaithful in his marriage, Gates said, "I certainly made mistakes and I take responsibility,” but didn't elaborate.

Melinda was asked in an interview with "CBS Mornings" last month about reports that Bill Gates had multiple affairs during their marriage and said "those are questions Bill needs to answer.”

"I don’t think delving into the particulars at this point is constructive, but yes, I caused pain, and I feel terrible about that," Bill Gates said on TODAY.

Gates also reacted to comments from Melinda's interview last month that during their breakup she had "a lot of tears for many days," as well as days where she was lying on the floor thinking, "How can I get up? How am I going to move forward?’"

"This was a very tough thing," he said. "We had a lot of amazing things in our marriage. The kids, the foundation, the enjoyment we had. And so it's a very hard adjustment.

"I know divorces are different, but it's just a complete change. We were partners, we kind of grew up together, and now that's different. We're not married."

The 66-year-old philanthropist, who has a new book out called "How to Prevent the Next Pandemic," also reflected on what he learned while going through a painful journey in his personal life.

"There’s areas like climate or health where I have expertise, (but) on personal matters like this, I don’t think of myself as an expert," he said. "I should be very humble about success has a tricky aspect to it, so I don’t have great advice for other people."

This is a developing story, check back for updates.