Melinda French Gates
Template:Short description Template:Family name hatnote Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person
Melinda French Gates<ref name=":6">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Early life and educationEdit
Melinda Ann French was born on August 15, 1964, in Dallas, Texas.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":7">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
French Gates, 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 Gates 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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
French Gates graduated as valedictorian from Ursuline Academy of Dallas in 1982.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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 Gates was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, Beta Rho Chapter.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
CareerEdit
Early career and MicrosoftEdit
French Gates's first job was tutoring children in mathematics and computer programming.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She left Microsoft that year, reportedly, to focus on starting a family.<ref name=":2" />
Corporate directorshipEdit
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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She was also on the board of directors at Drugstore.com but left in August 2006 to focus on philanthropic projects.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Melinda Gates Biography" />
PhilanthropyEdit
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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="CNN-resignation">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
WritingEdit
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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2025, she published the book The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward.
Personal lifeEdit
.JPG){kind=link}
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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The family maintained a home in an earth-sheltered mansion overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The family also owned an oceanfront residence in Del Mar, California.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In May 2021, after 27 years of marriage, Bill and Melinda Gates announced their decision to divorce.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In October 2021, Melinda and Bill both attended the wedding of their eldest daughter Jennifer to the Olympic equestrian Nayel Nassar.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In March 2022, Melinda said that she and Bill were "friendly" but not "friends".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> French Gates became a grandmother for the first time in March 2023, when Jennifer gave birth to a daughter.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
French Gates is a practicing Catholic.<ref name=":5" />
Awards and recognitionEdit
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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref>
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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="cam1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She was awarded the UCSF medal in 2013.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In June 2024, she delivered the Commencement address at Stanford University.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Women in technologyEdit
French Gates's experience of a male-dominated workplace at Microsoft inspired her to encourage more women in the computing field.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=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>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Published worksEdit
- The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World (2019) Template:ISBN
- The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward (2025) Template:ISBN
ReferencesEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Sister project Template:Sister project
- Profile at the Gates Foundation
- Profile at Pivotal Ventures
- Template:C-SPAN
- Template:Charlie Rose view
- Template:TED speaker
- [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 2320473
| name/{{#if:{{#invoke:ustring|match|1=2320473|2=^nm}}
| Template:Trim/
| nm2320473/
}}
| {{#if: {{#property:P345}}
| name/Template:First word/
| find?q=%7B%7B%23if%3A+%0A++++++%7C+%7B%7B%7Bname%7D%7D%7D%0A++++++%7C+%5B%5B%3ATemplate%3APAGENAMEBASE%5D%5D%0A++++++%7D%7D&s=nm
}}
}}{{#if: 2320473 {{#property:P345}} | {{#switch:
| award | awards = awards Awards for | biography | bio = bio Biography for
}}}} {{#if:
| {{{name}}}
| Template:PAGENAMEBASE
}}] at IMDb{{#if: 2320473{{#property:P345}}
| Template:EditAtWikidata
| Template:Main other
}}{{#switch:{{#invoke:string2|matchAny|^nm.........|^nm.......|nm|.........|source=2320473|plain=false}}
| 1 | 3 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning | 4 = Template:Main otherTemplate:Preview warning
}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:IMDb name with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|showblankpositional=1| 1 | 2 | id | name | section }}
- Template:NYT topic
- 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
Template:PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 2010–19 Template:Time Persons of the Year 2001-2025 Template:100 Women by BBC in 2021 Template:Bill Gates Template:Authority control