Back Melinda Gates Afrikaans مليندا غيتس Arabic مليندا جيتس ARZ মেলিণ্ডা গেট্ছ Assamese Melinda Gates AST Melinda Geyts Azerbaijani مئلیندا قئیتس AZB Melinda French Gates BCL Мелинда Гейтс Bulgarian মেলিন্ডা গেটস Bengali/Bangla
Melinda French Gates | |
|---|---|
 French Gates in 2014 | |
| Born | Melinda Ann French August 15, 1964 Dallas, Texas, U.S. |
| Education | Duke University (BA, MBA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | [1] |
| Children | 3, including Phoebe |
| Awards | |
| Website | Gates Co-Founder Profile; Pivotal Founder Profile |
Melinda French Gates[2] (born Melinda Ann French; August 15, 1964) is an American philanthropist. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she was educated at Ursuline Academy of Dallas, Duke University, and Duke's Fuqua School of Business. Shortly after joining Microsoft in 1987 as a multimedia product developer, she began dating the company's co-founder and then-CEO Bill Gates, whom she married in 1994. They have three children together. The couple divorced in 2021.
From 2000 to 2024, she and Gates co-chaired the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable organization.[3] For their philanthropic endeavors, which focused on global health, development, and education, they received numerous awards and honors, including the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and the French Legion of Honour. After French Gates resigned as co-chair in May 2024, Gates became sole chair of the renamed Gates Foundation.[4]
As part of her divorce settlement, French Gates received $12.5 billion for independent philanthropy, which she has stated will focus on women and families.[5][6] She has become a prominent megadonor to the Democratic Party, with a focus on abortion rights, and endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential election.[7] In April 2025, she published a memoir, The Next Day: Transition, Change and Moving Forward.[8]
Consistently ranked by Forbes magazine as one of the world's most powerful women,[9] French Gates was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2021.[10] As of May 2025, her net worth is estimated at US$30.4 billion, according to Forbes.[11]
- ^ Novet, Jordan (August 2, 2021). "Bill and Melinda French Gates are officially divorced following 27-year marriage". CNBC. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
- ^ King County Superior Court Clerk (May 3, 2021). "Gates Petition for Divorce" (PDF). TMZ. The Washington Post. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
- ^ Mathiesen, Karl (March 16, 2015). "What is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on April 25, 2016. Retrieved February 25, 2020.
- ^ "Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to change name". Newsweek. May 13, 2024. Retrieved March 25, 2025.
- ^ Goldman, David (May 13, 2024). "Melinda French Gates is resigning from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation". CNN. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
- ^ Malik, Yuvraj; Soni, Aditya (May 14, 2024). "Melinda Gates to exit Gates Foundation with $12.5 billion for own charity work". Reuters. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
- ^ Schleifer, Theodore (October 6, 2024). "Melinda French Gates's New Life: Abortion Politics and Kamala Harris". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
- ^ Hinsliff, Gaby (April 17, 2025). "The Next Day by Melinda French Gates review – Melinda on life, before and after Bill". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 22, 2025.
- ^ "Power Women". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 19, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
- ^ "BBC 100 Women 2021: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
- ^ "Melinda French Gates". Forbes. May 5, 2025. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
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