Melinda French Gates

Melinda French Gates was Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and resigned in May 2024. Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation is now one of America’s largest private foundations. Established in late 2022, the year after the Gates' divorce, it had $604 million on hand at the end of 2023. A year later, it had $7.4 billion in assets, after making under $500 million in charitable donations that year. More funding for Pivotal may come as their divorce is settled. Mrs. Gates held a number of different positions after joining Microsoft Corporation in 1987, Mr. Gates and Ms. French Gates met at work. He was technically her boss. He ran Microsoft, and she began working there as a product manager the year after she graduated from college. She retired from her position as Microsoft’s General Manager of Information Products in 1996. Following her retirement, Mrs. Gates has directed her activities toward the non-profit world, having served as a member of the Board of Trustees of Duke University and as Co-Chair of the Washington State Governor’s Commission on Early Learning. Melinda Gates received a bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986 and a master’s in business administration from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in 1987.