Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates is the longtime wife of billionaire software entrepreneur and philanthropist, Bill Gates -known as one of the richest men in the world.
Melinda’s husband recently spoke about the coronavirus pandemic saying the US government should impose an extreme shutdown of six to ten weeks.
Is widely known that Melinda’s husband became one of the world’s richest men after founding the world’s largest software business, Microsoft, with Paul Allen.
Gates was born William Henry Gates III on October 28, 1955, in Seattle, Washington. He attended Seattle’s exclusive preparatory Lakeside School where he excelled in nearly every subject. He famously scored 1590 out of 1600 on the college SAT test. He dropped out of Harvard University in 1975 after having attended for two years.
That same year Gates and Allen formed Micro-Soft. Gates was CEO until 2000 when Steve Ballmer took over the role. In February 2014, Gates announced that he was stepping down as Microsoft’s chairman to focus on charitable work at his foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Earlier this year he stepped down from Microsoft’s board and his position on the board of Berkshire Hathaway. Gates is among Microsoft’s top shareholders.
The 64-year-old has been married to wife Melinda since 1994. The two met in 1987 -when at the time Melinda worked as a Microsoft product manager. Together they have welcomed three children, Jennifer born in 1996; son Rory born in 1999 and another daughter Phoebe -born in 2002.
Melinda was born Melinda Ann French on August 15, 1964, in Dallas, Texas. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts/Science from Duke University; and later earned a Master of Business Administration from Fuqua School of Business.
Right after college Melinda joined Microsoft Corporation where she worked for nine years in a number of roles until she became general manager of information products.
Melinda and her boss dated for about six years before they tied the knot. After her nuptials she shifted her focus to their foundation which was originally established in 1994 as the William H. Gates Foundation and later renamed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000.
The spouse and mother of three, currently serves as Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Through her role, she is often described as the most powerful woman in philanthropy. According to Forbes, their foundation it’s the world’s largest private charitable foundation with a $40 billion trust endowment. She is well known for having devoted much of her work to women’s and girls’ rights.
In addition, Melinda Gates is also the founder of Pivotal Ventures, as well as the author of ‘Moment of Lift;’ her first book which was released in 2019.
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