Melinda French Gates

In this article, the surname is French Gates, not Gates.
Melinda French Gates
French Gates in 2012
Born
Melinda Ann French

(1964-08-15) August 15, 1964 (age 60)
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
EducationDuke University (BA, MBA)
Occupations
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1994; div. 2021)​
[1]
Children3
Awards
WebsiteProfile

Melinda French Gates[2] (born Melinda Ann French; August 15, 1964) is an American philanthropist and a former multimedia product developer and manager at Microsoft. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she graduated from Duke University and started working at Microsoft in 1987. Shortly afterwards, she began dating the company's co-founder and then-CEO Bill Gates, whom she married in 1994. In 2000, she and Gates co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable organization.[3] The couple, who have three children together, divorced in 2021. In 2024, she resigned from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to pursue philanthropy independently, having received $12.5 billion for charitable work as part of her separation agreement.[4]

Forbes magazine has consistently ranked French Gates as one of the world's most powerful women.[5] She and her ex-husband have received numerous awards and honors for their charitable work, including the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the French Legion of Honour. She was recognized as one of the BBC's 100 women of 2021.[6]

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ King County Superior Court Clerk (May 3, 2021). "Gates Petition for Divorce" (PDF). TMZ. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 12, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021 – via The Washington Post.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ Goldman, David (May 13, 2024). "Melinda French Gates is resigning from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation". CNN. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  5. ^ "Power Women". Forbes. Archived from the original on March 19, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
  6. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2021: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. December 7, 2021. Retrieved December 16, 2022.