This week, sources told TMZ that the billionaire philanthropist and former wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, 58, was dating Jon Du Pre, a former TV news anchor and author, who was locked in a nine-year court battle with his wife over child support, according to public records. She set up The Giving Pledge with her ex-husband and Warren Buffett with the intention of encouraging the world's richest people to donate their money to charity. "As I said, it's not one thing, it was many things. Here's to changing your own perspectives for the better. So even though I might be crying at 9 a.m. and then have to be on a video conference at 10 a.m. with the person Im leaving, I have to show up and be my best.. DeSantis won't say he's running. In a statement to CBS News, Bill Gates said: "Meeting with Epstein was a mistake that I regret deeply. Melinda Gates took a job at Microsoft Corporation in 1987 and married her boss, Bill Gates, in 1994. 01:20. A study commissioned by Microsoft found that by the time girls reach the age of 15, many of them have been discouraged from pursuing science and math (via CNN Business), but that was not the case for Melinda Gates. If you want to go far, go with others.. The. While she knew that she would likely meet him at Microsoft, she said she never thought things would go further. Their 25-year-old daughter, Jennifer Gates, wrote on Instagram: "It's been a challenging stretch of time for our whole family. "After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage," they shared on Twitter. Melinda and Bill Gates received honorary degrees from the University of Cambridge (2009). That does not include the couple's vast property portfolio which comprised of homes in New York, Washington, and California. When Melinda French Gates and Bill Gates were married in 1994, she really thought that they would be married "till death do us part." Instead, after 27 years together, the couple announced their . At St. Monica School in Dallas, Texas, math quickly became Gates' favorite subject (just wait, her academic path gets even better). "Think of the number of people who leave New York City every day and go all over the world we're an interconnected world.". "I needed to take a different path. There's so much about her life that has to be pieced together from rare interviews, her memoir, commencement speeches, and little tid-bits she shares on social media. Demonstrating their support of progressive workplace policies, Melinda and Bill announced in 2015 that employees of their foundation would receive up to a year's paid leave after the birth of a child or the adoption of a child. Well, despite displaying a more quiet demeanor in college, based on what others have said about her, it's been reported that Melinda Gates did know how to have a pretty good time in college! "We can play putt-putt while discussing biotechnology," he told the magazine in 1997. In 2007, court filings show an Emergency/Expedited request for telephonic hearing regarding spring break access.. Elaine, who wished she had gone to college, placed a strong emphasis on her children's higher education. "Yeah, I hope that happens for me again. She is 52 years old. 2022 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. In June billionaire investor Warren Buffett, a personal friend of the couple, announced his plan to direct some $30 billion of his fortune to the Gates Foundation in the coming years. In her recent memoir The Moment of Lift, she wrote about her childhood, life and private struggles as the wife of a famous figure and and stay-at-home mother with three kids. The pair have, however, made no public hint of their financial plans. And I'm really, really excited about my life and about the worldthe work ahead,' she said. The company was also introducing floppy disks to the world (via The Art Institute of Chicago). Jennifer Gates the eldest daughter of billionaire Bill Gates and his ex wife Melinda French Gates married Olympic equestrian Nayel Nassar at their farm in Westchester County, New. 'I wish him well. It was Melindas mother, Elaine, who herself never went to a college, who placed an emphasis on her kids higher education. What role did Melinda play in their campaigning? All Rights Reserved. New York CNN . She and Bill Gates divorced in 2021, and she called the end "incredibly painful.". The following year, she obtained a master's in business administration, with a focus in economics, from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. She said the two will keep working together at The Gates Foundation, which they co-founded more than 20 years ago. French Gates said there were days that she was upset following the split. "The chance for advancement there is terrific." To top off what was already pretty cutting-edge at that time, Gates started learning programming language BASIC, to be specific. Melinda Gates talking about women empowerment during an event. Winblad ultimately had no qualms about him popping the question. 'Even during the difficult times in the last 18 months while we were going through this process behind the scenes, we were able to show up and work effectively together. ", Added Melinda: "Bill wanted to be married, but he didn't know whether he could actually commit to it and have Microsoft.". She was born in Dallas, Texas, on August 15, 1964, to parents who were John and Teresa French. as she works to grow her own company, Pivotal Ventures, where French Gates is focused on funding projects that empower women. "I loved my time at Duke, and ever since I graduated, I've stayed in touch." You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. The couple decided to end their 27-year-long marriage in 2021. Appointed an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2013). And at the end of the day though, I started on this journey of healing, and I feel like I'm starting to get to the other side. Corrections? In the same year, she sat together with Bill Gates (an American Business tycoon) for dinner at a trade fair in New York. "The work of the foundation is likely to go on. One of her sorority sisters, Rebecca Chaffin, told The Seattle Times that despite her hard-working demeanor, Gates would frequently join her peers at beer parties (we're getting war flashbacks as we speak). Jon Du Pre grew up in South Carolina in a family that was plagued by so many problems that we barely made it to school in the morning. His father, at first a successful lawyer who took on civil rights cases, cheated on his mother, and spent most of his life drinking and plagued by debt. He may be of the most successful men on the planet, but Melinda said she was less than impressed when the Microsoft billionaire asked her out for the first time. He tells readers that he and his family live in Californias Ventura County where he worked for the Fox News Network. The terms of it were never made public but Bill was worth around $152billion at the time, giving Melinda a 50 percent settlement of $76billion. This is what Melinda Gates' life was like before she married Bill. 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March 3, 2022 / 9:43 AM Bill Gates' daughter living in $51M NYC home as she welcomes first baby. Prior to joining PEOPLE, Joelle was employed atThe Hollywood Reporter. The couple consolidated their charitable interests in 2000 as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with a reported endowment of $17 billion. "But I said to him, 'You know, it just doesn't make sense. Within his line of work, Ray worked on the Apollo mission, and Gates spent her childhood (naturally) watching NASA rocket launches talk about an experience to be inspired by (via the Los Angeles Times). At that time, she decided to leave her job at Microsoft so she could focus on child-rearing and philanthropic efforts. Of course, Melinda Gates finally met Bill Gates when she started working at Microsoft, and the rest is history. The comments below have not been moderated, By
Melinda Gates filed a petition for divorce in King County, Washington, on Monday, asking a judge to dissolve the marriage based on the couple's separation contract. I stood and ran across the living room at my pregnant wife, and she cowered as I swelled with hot, angry air and launched the worst verbal attack she had ever endured., Welcome to the real world, princess, where not everyone is happy, he said. In addition to his work as an engineer, Gates' father started a rental property business to build money for his daughter's education. If you are lucky enough to be a billionaire, believe me - you can give half of it away and it will not change your life. The billionaire Microsoft founder made sure the . The philanthropist said she and her Microsoft co-founding ex still operate their Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation together, presenting awkward challenges. Bill has said in the past that meeting with Epstein multiple times was a 'huge' mistake and error in judgement. The couple dated for six years before Bill proposed to Melinda. When hes not covering earthquakes, riots, plane crashes, or presidential elections, Jon spends his time volunteering as a scout leader, Little League coach, cheerleader, at dance recitals and school award ceremonies, and playing with his children in the back yard, according to the About the Author section. The Ursuline Academy clearly had a positive impact on Gates, because the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave $2 million to the high school their second donation to the school. She cried 'on the carpet' at times while working through the divorce that they announced in May last year, She had forgiven Bill for a 2000 affair but he had to answer to reports of multiple affairs, The pair are 'friendly' now but are not 'friends': 'I wish him well,' she said, Every billionaire should give away at least half of their wealth, She does not blame herself for the divorce, saying 'I did nothing wrong, I hold my head high', She has launched her own company now called Pivotal Ventures but will continue to work at The Gates Foundation. And I do feel like I'm turning a page in the chapter now. He was abhorrent. Melinda also worked on the budget trip-planning website Expedia, which later became one of the most popular travel booking websites. The couple established the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000 in Seattle, The foundation focuses primarily on public health, education and climate change, Its grants included some $1.75bn to vaccine initiatives and research during the Covid-19 pandemic, In 2019, the foundation had net assets of more than $43bn, Bill and Melinda Gates pumped more than $36bn into the foundation between 1994 and 2018. Melinda and Bill Gates in Cambodia during a malaria screening and treatment program. Their collaborative approach evoked an African proverb cited by Melinda and others at the Gates Foundation: If you want to go fast, go alone. What a life this lady has lived. He developed such a strong bond with Winblad that Bill made sure to keep her in his life after they split in 1987. Updates? Elsewhere in the interview, Melinda told of being in 'tears' about the divorce momentsbefore having to attend a Gates foundation meeting, and how she is dating again. But I did not like that he'd had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no," said French Gates. Thanks to this spur of the moment but powerfully accurate explanation of my condition from a person with renowned expertise, I no longer had to think of myself as a chaotic mess, he writes. Melinda Gates, the former wife of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which strives to improve global health and education. We should have a society where if for whatever reason wealth is in your hands, you, you put it back in society so that you change and you lift up others," French Gates said. Bill and Melinda Gates announced the end of their 27-year relationship Monday, shocking the business and philanthropic worlds. Cookies collect information about your preferences and your device and are used to make the site work as you expect it to, to understand how you interact with the site, and to show advertisements that are targeted to your interests. In May 2021, while announcing their divorce, the couple tweeted, After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage. As the founder of the organization, Gates has worked to develop prevention strategies, provide vaccines and treatments for diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. Gina is essentially the Steph Curry of life, making things appear to be way easier than they are, Kasey wrote on LinkedIn, comparing his mother to the NBA legend. They began dating, but as Bill told a Netflix documentary: "We cared a lot for each other and there were only two possibilities: either, we were going to break up or we were going to get married.". She appeared as a summer speaker for Girls Who Code, an organization that inspires girls to pursue careers in computer science. "The world is finally waking up to the fact that none of us can move forward when half of us are held back," she said at the time. Every now and then I look at my friends and say 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone. As noted by CNBC, Gates has spent a bulk of her career bringing "attention to the lack of women and minorities in the industry where she started her professional career: technology." 'We certainly have a working relationship. Jennifer, the eldest daughter of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, is getting married this weekend to Nayel Nassar in Westchester County, New York, a source tells PEOPLE. We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives. As noted by the Los Angeles Times, Gates was described as the "good Catholic girl, who sits in the front row and gets good grades" and was the student in class who "always raised her hand before speaking out answers." Melinda also revealed that she and Bill are not friends but are 'friendly' and work together, and she suggested he had more than one affair throughout their 27-year-marriage. 'I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein.
She said she never thought their marriage would end in divorce. We've received your submission. "Neighbors said she was rarely home and kept to herself, though she was always pleasant and said hello as she got in and out of her car," The Seattle Times noted. So, Gates' parents started putting in the work early to ensure their daughter's academic success. Lawsuits claim it wrecked their teeth. "You know, we cared a lot for each other and there were only two possibilities: either, we were going to break up or we were going to get married. "Every spring, as they have for more than a decade, Gates spends a long weekend with Winblad at her beach cottage on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where they ride dune buggies, hang-glide and walk on the beach.". Jennifer Smith, Chief Reporter
". This crisis, which falls squarely in. ", In a statement, Gates said that he "will always be sorry for the pain that I caused Melinda and our family. I knew that demons from my past were threatening to destroy this new life that meant so much to me.. / CBS News. She graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Television-Radio (and an appearance in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Final Four!). The two have been married since January 1994 and share . I mean, it's 2022 and I'm actually really excited about what's to come and life ahead for me," she said. Melinda was awarded the UCSF medal (2013). But, of course, as so many of us know, college is beyond expensive. Melinda Gates previewing annual letter of her foundation. I certainly don't wish him any harm. I did nothing wrong. Three years later they launched the Gates Library Foundation (renamed Gates Learning Foundation in 1999) to benefit North American libraries, with a particular focus on bringing Internet technology to public libraries. "I had some reasons I just couldn't stay in that marriage anymore," French Gates, 58, told Fortune magazine in an interview this week. She graduated in 1986 from her undergraduate career and went on to The Fuqua School of Business at Duke the next year for her master's degree in business administration. Melinda also used the interview to tell other billionaires to give away the majority of their wealth, as she does. I knew I would meet Bill because the company was small," she said. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. I remain dedicated to my work at the Gates Foundation in partnership with Melinda, where our focus is to help reduce global inequities, giving every person the chance to live a healthy and productive life.". In 2012 Melinda pledged $560 million toward improving access to contraception for women in third-world countries. Melinda Gates with her parents & Siblings, Melinda Gates in her teens with her mother and grandmother. Joelle Goldstein is a TV Staff Editor for PEOPLE Digital. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I needed to take a different path. "I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door. As noted by theIndependent, her interest in math and computer science really started to pay off, and after she got her hands on an Apple computer (sorry, Bill! Melinda Gates, ne Melinda Ann French, (born August 15, 1964, Dallas, Texas, U.S.), American businesswoman and philanthropist whowith her then husband, Microsoft Corporation cofounder Bill Gatesfounded the charitable Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "We saw money coming in and money going out." Melinda Gates is an American philanthropist and a former general manager at Microsoft. Melinda and her husband devoted their foundation's considerable resources toward combating the outbreak, pairing with leading pharmaceutical companies to fund the development of a vaccine. While they were on a safari to see the animals, they were profoundly disturbed by systemic poverty there. She is better with people than I am.". French Gates said, "those are questions Bill needs to answer.". I wanted to see who this man was and I regretted it from the second I stepped in the door. 01:17. "I had parents who told me every step of the way, 'You can get what you want,'" she said. She is the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the worlds largest private charitable foundation. In 2012 she pledged $560 million toward improving access to contraception for women in poor countries. ), she started playing computer games. Why the heightened privacy? She told host Gayle King that Bill had to answer the many times he met Epstein, and even suggested that it contributed to the divorce. It reminded me that the foundation calls me to be my best, she continued. American computer programmer, businessman, and philanthropist, American businesswoman and philanthropist. 'Society used to put this on women like it was our fault. No financial details were. Melinda is the former wife of the American business magnate Bill Gates. By 2006 the foundation was by far the worlds largest. "Men and women should be equal at work.". An in-depth profile on Gates in The Seattle Times reported that by Gates' own admittance, her childhood was normal and that her parents were "loving and supportive." The Gates Foundation committed $560 million toward the goal of the targeted $4.3 billion. Those years can be the absolute best, the absolute worst, and the most tiring time of a person's life. Melinda Gates dancing with her father-in-law at her wedding to Bill Gates. Melinda Gates was a standout student who helped the other kids with their programming skills so would it surprise you to discover that she attended Duke University? Over the years, her foundation has emerged as one of the most powerful and influential forces in global public health. 'It was not one thing, it was many things [that led to the divorce]. There just came a point in time where there was enough there where I realized it just wasnt healthy, and I couldnt trust what we had.. But let's begin with all the ways she contributed to Duke. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. You know, I'm dipping my toe in that water a little bit," she said. She was rather forthcoming, and for a woman who is worth $70 billion, she revealed that she knows what it is like to have to work for what you have. and
So, you know, my heart breaks for these young women, because that's how I felt, and here I'm an older woman. This is not some small family foundation that's going to fall apart because a marriage is falling apart," he said. In 1987 Melinda first met her new boss, Bill, at a PC trade show in Manhattan. The pair both posted the statement announcing their divorce on Twitter. ", "He called me an hour later to suggest we get together that night," Melinda wrote in the post.