Is Melinda Gates married? Yes, she is. Her husband’s name is Bill Gates (born on October 28, 1955) who is named as the world’s richest person for over a decade. On January 1, 1994, the duo got married and their ceremony was held in the Hawaiian island of Lanai.
The maiden name of Melinda Gates is French. The couple is together for over 26 years and has extended their family life by welcoming three children. They welcomed their first child 26 April 1996, who is a daughter named Jennifer Katharine Gates who is an equestrian by profession. Their second child as a son named Rory John Gates was born on May 23, 1999.
On September 14, 2002, Melinda and her husband welcomed their youngest child as a daughter named Phoebe Adele Gates. The beautiful family currently lives together Xanadu 2.0 Medina, a mansion based in Washington. Scroll down to explore more interesting personal facts and biography of Melinda:
Who is Melinda Gates?
Born as Melinda Ann French, she landed the planet on August 15, 1964, which makes her age be 56 years old as of 2020. By profession, she is an American philanthropist best known for being the wife of billionaire Bill Gates. Previously, she worked for Microsoft as a general manager.
She alongside her husband is the founder of the world’s largest private charitable organization named the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Forbes as mentioned as her one of the world’s most powerful women many times.
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Early Life and Education
Melinda was born in 1964 and her place of birth is in Dallas, Texas, the United States of America. Talking about her family background, she was born to the parents named Raymond Joseph French Jr. (father) and Elaine Agnes Amerland (mother). Her father used to work as an aerospace engineer whereas her mother was a homemaker.
Melinda is blessed with three siblings including two younger brothers and an elder sister. She grew up as a Catholic and still is having the same faith. Talking about her education, she went to St. Monica Catholic School where she secured top ranking among the students. Later, she was enrolled at Ursuline Academy of Dallas from where she graduated as valedictorian in 1982.
In 1986, she received her bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics by attending Duke University. The following year, she was able to earn an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. She developed an interest in the BASIC programming language as well as in computer games after being introduced to the Apple II at the age of 14 by her father.
Career and Professional Life
Melinda started working by giving tuition classes for children where she used to tutor math and computer programming. She was hired by Microsoft as a marketing manager after her graduation. She used to lead the development of various multimedia products including Microsoft Bob, Money, Cinemania, Encarta, Publisher and Word.
She has also worked for the American travel booking website, Expedia which is one of the top-grossing companies in the travel industry. She was appointed as general manager of Information Products in the early 1990s. She remained in the post until 1996. In order to give her time and attention to her family, she left her job at Microsoft.
Melinda also served Duke University’s Board of Trustees as one of the members from 1996 to 2003. She also served as a member of the board of directors of The Washington Post and was also attending the annual Bilderberg Group conference. She also served Drugstore.com by remaining on the Board of Directors which she left in 2006. After that, she was focused on philanthropic works.
In 2000, Melinda and her husband formed Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation where the couple donated over 28 billion USD to the Foundation. American investor Warren Buffett has also made a big contribution to the foundation. She published a book titled The Moment of Lift which is about empowering women.
Personal Life
Melinda French is a married woman since 1994. They started dating since 1987 and decided to celebrate their private wedding in Lanai, Hawaii. They have three children together and the beautiful family resides in a mansion located in Medina, Washington. The couple has been together for various charitable works and is influencing the corporate personalities to contribute towards philanthropy.
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Body Measurements
American philanthropist Melinda Gates has a perfect height of 5 feet and 8 inches. She weighs about 60 kilograms which makes her perfectly balanced according to her height. She looks perfectly matched while standing together with her spouse who has a tall height of 5 feet and 10 inches.
Salary and Net worth
The co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda has an estimated net worth of 70 billion USD. She is often ranked as one of the most powerful women due to her philanthropic works. She has been leading the world’s top private charitable organization.
She was awarded France’s highest national award, the Legion of Honour along with her husband in 2017. She also earned the Otto Hahn Peace Medal 2016 of DGVN. The couple was blessed with the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016 for their philanthropic efforts. They also received Padma Bhushan which is one of the highest civilian honors of India in 2015.
Wiki and Facts
The biography of Melinda Gates is prepared by various wiki sites including Wikipedia and IMDb. Find her on Instagram @melindafrenchgates where she has amassed more than 585k followers. She is also active on Twitter @melindagates where she has garnered more than 2.45 million followers now.