Melinda French Gates

Melinda French Gates<ref name=":6">Template:Cite web</ref> (born Melinda Ann French; August 15, 1964) is an American philanthropist. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she attended Duke University, from which she received a degree in computer science and economics as well as an MBA. Shortly after joining Microsoft in 1987 as a multimedia product developer, she began dating the company's co-founder and then-CEO Bill Gates. She and Gates married in 1994 and have three children together.

In 2000, the couple jointly founded and co-chaired the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable organization.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> For their philanthropic endeavors, which focused on global health, development, and education, the couple received numerous awards and honors, including the U.S. Presidential Medal of Freedom and the French Legion of Honour.

Following the couple's 2021 divorce, French Gates resigned in 2024 as co-chair of the foundation, which was subsequently renamed the Gates Foundation, with Bill Gates as its sole chair.<ref name=":8">Template:Cite web</ref> As part of her settlement, she received $12.5 billion for her own independent charitable work, which she has stated will focus on women and families.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She has since become a prominent megadonor to the Democratic Party, with a focus on abortion rights. She endorsed Kamala Harris in the 2024 US presidential election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Forbes magazine has consistently ranked French Gates as one of the world's most powerful women.<ref name="The World">Template:Cite web</ref> She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2021.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite news</ref> As of May 2025, her net worth is estimated at US$30.4 billion, according to Forbes.<ref name="f2025">Template:Cite web</ref>

Early life and education

Melinda Ann French was born on August 15, 1964, in Dallas, Texas.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":7">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She is the second of four children born to Raymond Joseph French Jr., an aerospace engineer, and Elaine Agnes Amerland, a homemaker. She has an older sister and two younger brothers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

French, a Catholic, attended St. Monica Catholic School, where she was the valedictorian of her class.<ref name="Catholic 2">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Catholic 1">Template:Cite book</ref> At age 14, French was introduced to the Apple II by her father and Mrs. Bauer, a school teacher who advocated teaching computer science at the all-girls school.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> It was from this experience she developed her interest in computer games and the BASIC programming language.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

French graduated as valedictorian from Ursuline Academy of Dallas in 1982.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986 and an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business in 1987.<ref name="StangeOyster2013">Template:Cite book</ref> At Duke, French was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, Beta Rho Chapter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

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French Gates in 2011

Early career and Microsoft

French Gates's first job was tutoring children in mathematics and computer programming.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After graduation, she became a marketing manager with Microsoft, being responsible for the development of multimedia products.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite book</ref> These included Cinemania, Encarta, Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Money, Works (Macintosh) and Word.<ref name=":1" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She worked on Expedia, which became one of the most popular travel booking websites. In the early 1990s, French Gates was appointed as General Manager of Information Products, a position which she held until 1996.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Melinda Gates Biography">Template:Cite web</ref> She left Microsoft that year, reportedly, to focus on starting a family.<ref name=":2" />

Corporate directorship

French Gates served as a member of Duke University's board of trustees from 1996 to 2003.<ref>Gates Joins Trustees Template:Webarchive, Fuqua.duke.edu; retrieved June 29, 2013.</ref> She attends the annual Bilderberg Group conference and has held a seat on the board of directors of Graham Holdings (formerly The Washington Post Company) since 2004.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She was also on the board of directors at Drugstore.com but left in August 2006 to focus on philanthropic projects.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Melinda Gates Biography" />

Philanthropy

Since 2000, French Gates has been in the public eye, stating "As I thought about strong women of history, I realized that they stepped out in some way."<ref name=":1" /> This has allowed her work shaping and advancing the goals of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to be publicly recognized. By 2022, Bill and Melinda had given US$59.1 billion of their personal wealth to the foundation.<ref name="FactSheet">Template:Cite web</ref> On May 13, 2024, French Gates resigned as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to be effective June 7.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="CNN-resignation">Template:Cite web</ref> The foundation was subsequently renamed the Gates Foundation, with Bill Gates as its sole chair.<ref name=":8" />

In 2015, French Gates founded Pivotal Ventures as a separate, independent organization to identify and implement innovative solutions to problems affecting U.S. women and families.<ref>Pivotal Ventures-Who we are Template:Webarchive, pivotalventures.org; retrieved April 17, 2020.</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In partnership with Lever for Change, an affiliate of the MacArthur Foundation French Gates announced a 2024-25 grant competition called Action for Women's Health, which aims to provide $250 million in grants to fund women's health initiatives.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Writing

In 2019, French Gates debuted as an author with the book The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. Former president Barack Obama starred in a comedy sketch to promote it.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The book highlights the failure to acknowledge women's unpaid work, drawing on feminist economist Dame Marilyn Waring's book If Women Counted.<ref name="abcnews">Template:Cite web</ref> In 2025, she published the book The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward.

Personal life

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Melinda and her then-husband, Bill, in 2009

Melinda began dating Microsoft CEO Bill Gates in 1987, after meeting him at a trade fair in New York.<ref name=":0" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1994, she married Gates in a private ceremony held in Lanai, Hawaii. They have three children.<ref name="Jennifer">Template:Cite web</ref> The family maintained a home in an earth-sheltered mansion overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The family also owned an oceanfront residence in Del Mar, California.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In May 2021, after 27 years of marriage, Bill and Melinda Gates announced their decision to divorce.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to The Wall Street Journal, Melinda had been meeting with divorce lawyers since at least October 2019, after Bill's business dealings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein became public.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=WSJ>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=TheGuardian>Template:Cite news</ref> Although the couple did not have a prenuptial agreement,<ref name=TheGuardian/> Melinda (who filed) did not request spousal support.<ref name=WSJ/> She was allocated over $2 billion worth of shares and stocks from the divorce,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> although the full details of the financial settlement have not been disclosed.<ref name=":4" /> The divorce was finalized on August 2, 2021.<ref name="CNBC20210802"/> She has publicly used the name Melinda French Gates, since the couple separated.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite web</ref>

In October 2021, Melinda and Bill both attended the wedding of their eldest daughter Jennifer to the Olympic equestrian Nayel Nassar.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In March 2022, Melinda said that she and Bill were "friendly" but not "friends".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In November 2022, she was reported to be dating former Fox News correspondent Jon Du Pre. In April 2024, a spokesperson quashed rumors that French Gates and Du Pre had become engaged, confirming that the two were no longer dating.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> French Gates became a grandmother for the first time in March 2023, when Jennifer gave birth to a daughter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

After the divorce, the now independently wealthy French Gates has become a prominent megadonor to the Democratic Party, with a focus on abortion rights. In the lead-up to the 2024 US presidential election, she donated over $10 million to Democratic causes.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite news</ref> In that election, she endorsed Joe Biden and then, after he stepped aside, Kamala Harris, her first presidential endorsements.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

French Gates is a practicing Catholic.<ref name=":5" />

Awards and recognition

In 1998, Melinda and Bill Gates were each honored with an American Library Association Honorary Membership. In 2002, Melinda and Bill Gates received the Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out, annually, by Jefferson Awards.<ref>Jefferson Awards website Template:Webarchive, jeffersonawards.org; accessed April 23, 2016.</ref> In December 2005, Melinda and Bill were named, by Time, as Persons of the Year, alongside Bono.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="TIME Persons of the Year 2005">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Melinda and Bill Gates received the Spanish Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on May 4, 2006, in recognition of their world impact through charitable giving.<ref>"2012 Laureates – Prince of Asturias Awards" Template:Webarchive, fpa.es; retrieved June 2, 2013.</ref> In November 2006, French Gates was awarded the Insignia of the Order of the Aztec Eagle, together, with Bill, who was awarded the Placard of the same order, both for their philanthropic work around the world in the areas of health and education, particularly in Mexico, and specifically in the program "Un país de lectores".<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Dead link</ref>

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Front building of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle

In May 2006, in honor of her work to improve the lives of children locally and around the world, Seattle Children's Hospital dedicated the Melinda French Gates Ambulatory Care building<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> at Seattle Children's (formerly Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center).<ref>How Our Name Evolved, Seattlechildrens.org; retrieved June 29, 2013.</ref> She chaired a campaign for the hospital to fundraise $300 million to expand facilities, fund under-compensated and uncompensated care, and grow the hospital's research program to find cures and treatments.<ref>Seattle Children's Hospital Unveils $300 Million Capital Campaign – $200 Million Already Raised Template:Webarchive, seattlechildrens.org; retrieved June 29, 2013.</ref>

In 2007, French Gates received an honorary doctorate in medicine from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2009, she and her then-husband received honorary degrees from the University of Cambridge. Their benefaction of $210 million in 2000 set up the Gates Cambridge Trust, which funds postgraduate scholars from outside the UK to study at the university.<ref name="nyu1">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="cam1">Template:Cite web</ref> Lastly, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Duke University, in 2013, in honor of her philanthropic commitment.

She has been repeatedly recognized, by Forbes in its annual list of the 100 Most Powerful Women,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> ranking #3 in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017, #4 in 2012 and 2016, #5 in 2020 and 2021, and #6 in 2011, 2018, 2019 and 2022, #10 in 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She was awarded the UCSF medal in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> French Gates was appointed an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 2013, for services to philanthropy and international development.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In recognition of the foundation's philanthropic activities in India, Bill and Melinda, jointly, received India's third-highest civilian honor, Padma Bhushan, in 2015.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded French Gates and her husband with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for their philanthropic efforts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2017, President François Hollande awarded France's highest national honor to French Gates and her husband, for their charitable efforts, i.e. as Commander of the Legion of Honour.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> That year, she was awarded the Otto Hahn Peace Medal 2016 of the United Nations Association of Germany (DGVN), Berlin-Brandenburg, "for outstanding services to peace and international understanding" in the historic Berlin Town Hall.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That year, French Gates was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 12 in the list of 200 Most Influential Philanthropists and Social Entrepreneurs Worldwide.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In June 2024, she delivered the Commencement address at Stanford University.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Women in technology

French Gates's experience of a male-dominated workplace at Microsoft inspired her to encourage more women in the computing field.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In September 2016, she announced her desire to increase diversity in the workplace, especially in the technology industry, stating: "Every company needs technology, and yet we're graduating fewer women technologists. That is not good for society. We have to change it."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> French Gates also spoke about this topic at the 2017 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, an annual series of conferences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Published works

• The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World (2019) Template:ISBN
• The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward (2025) Template:ISBN

External links

• Profile at the Gates Foundation
• Profile at Pivotal Ventures
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• Melinda Gates Goes Public, Fortune magazine, January 4, 2008
• Melinda Gates Philanthropic Profile (Template:Webarchive), GiveSmart.org, November 2012
• Melinda Gates (Template:Webarchive)—Video produced by Makers: Women Who Make America