Melinda French Gates is an American philanthropist. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, she attended Duke University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics and an MBA. She joined Microsoft in 1987 as a multimedia product developer. In the same year, she began dating the company's co-founder and then-chief executive Bill Gates, whom she married in 1994 and divorced in 2021. They have three children together. From 2000 to 2024, she and Gates co-chaired the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable organization. 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 2024, Gates became sole chair of the renamed Gates Foundation.
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.