The incredible life of Melinda Gates - one of the world's richest and most powerful women
- Melinda Gates is one of the most powerful women in the world, according to Forbes.
- She could be worth $73 billion if she and Bill Gates split their fortune equally in the divorce.
- Gates will continue in her role as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Melinda Gates is the fifth most powerful woman in the world, and the second American - after Vice President Kamala Harris - to make the Forbes 2020 most powerful women in the world list.
She and her former husband, Bill, announced their divorce on May 3. Though they don't have a prenuptial agreement, if they split their $146 billion fortune equally, Melinda would be worth around $73 billion.
Gates has become one of the most prolific philanthropists in the world as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which she helmed virtually on her own for the first six years of operation. She is now co-chair of the foundation with Bill, positions they said they will maintain even after the divorce.
She said in a statement posted to Twitter that she and Bill continue to believe in the mission of the foundation and will continue their work there.
Read more: Agritech startup Enko just raised $45 million in a funding round led by the Gates Foundation
In addition to the foundation's education and healthcare initiatives, Gates takes a personal interest in women's issues around the world. At the forefront of her agenda is expanding the availability of contraception and bringing awareness to the concept of time poverty - the notion that hours of daily unpaid work like household chores end up "robbing women of their potential."
In 2016, Gates was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the US, by President Obama.
Keep scrolling to learn more about her life and how she became one of the world's richest and most powerful women.
Additional reporting from Tanza Loudenback.
Melinda Gates (neè French) grew up in Dallas, Texas, with her parents - a stay-at-home mother and an aerospace-engineer father - and her three siblings. The family belonged to the local Roman Catholic parish.
The Frenches were intent on sending all four of their children to college, so Melinda's father started a side business for rental properties. "We would help him run the business and keep the books," she said. "We saw money coming in and money going out."
Gates was valedictorian and head of the drill team at her high school, Ursuline Academy of Dallas. In 2007, the Gates Foundation donated $7 million to Ursuline for the construction of The French Family Science, Math, and Technology Center - a 70,000 sq. ft. LEED Gold certified laboratory and classroom building.
She went on to earn a double bachelor's degree in computer science and economics from Duke University and an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business in just five years.
But Gates' dedication to her school work did not deter her from a social life. She was a member of Duke's Beta Rho chapter of Kappa Alpha Theta Sorority. In a 1995 interview, a sorority sister remembered her as a serial monogamist and a reserved dresser.
Gates has been generous to her alma mater. Her gifts include The French Family Science Center, the University Scholars Program, and the DukeEngage Program. She also served as a Duke trustee from 1996 to 2004.
Shortly after graduation, Gates was recruited by Microsoft just after the company went public and its stock began to soar. During her time at the company, she served as project manager of Microsoft Bob, Microsoft Encarta, and Expedia.
At a company picnic, Gates' now ex-husband, Bill, asked if she'd like to join him on a date in two weeks. She turned him down because he wasn't spontaneous enough. Within an hour, he asked to take her out that night and she agreed. The pair kept a low profile at work and asked colleagues and family members to respect their privacy.
Gates called the couple's first trip to Africa in 1993 the turning point. During a walk on the beach in Zanzibar, they decided to do something about the devastation they'd seen. Thus, the Gates Foundation was born.
In 1994, after seven years of dating, Bill and Melinda married in a secret ceremony on the 17th hole of a Hawaiian golf course after a pre-wedding fireworks display and a performance by Willie Nelson. The wedding tab was reportedly $1 million. The two were married for 27 years before filing for divorce.
Gates gave birth to their three children in 1996, 1999, and 2002. Though they won't be poor, the Gates children will not inherit their parents' billions, most of which will go to the foundation. "We want to strike a balance where they have the freedom to do anything but not a lot of money showered on them so they could go out and do nothing," Bill said in 2014.
The Gates children have all been to Africa a number of times for philanthropic work. In 2014, Gates and her eldest daughter traveled to Tanzania to do a homestay for the first time. In a TED talk last year, Gates said, "As they get older, they so know that our family belief is about responsibility, that we are in an unbelievable situation just to live in the United States and have a great education, and we have a responsibility to give back to the world."
U2 frontman, Bono once said of Melinda: "Lots of people like him [Bill] - and I include myself - are enraged, and we sweep ourselves into a fury at the wanton loss of lives. What we need is a much slower pulse to help us be rational. Melinda is that pulse."
In 2006, Warren Buffett agreed to give 80% of his multi-billion dollar fortunate to the Gates Foundation. Buffett, a close friend of the family, told Fortune that Bill is "smart as hell, obviously ... but in terms of seeing the whole picture, [Melinda's] smarter."
In 2014, Gates joined Bill for a speech during Stanford's commencement. She gave advice to students and families about hands-on charity: "Let your heart break. It will change what you do with your optimism."
In 1995, a Seattle Times article predicted that perhaps Gates would one day head up a Gates foundation. For the last 15 years, she has been the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a private, global foundation with a $40 billion endowment.
Gates is taking a number of domestic and world issues head-on. Despite her Catholic faith, she has worked to expand the availability of contraception for women, writing in a Fortune article that birth control is "too important to let it be a politicized issue."
She's recently begun a new initiative to transform the 21st century workplace into one of inclusivity, specifically when it comes to the gender gap.
In November 2016, Gates was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama, the highest civilian award in the US, for her work in health and poverty in America and abroad.
Gates describes the legacy she hopes to leave: "On the day I die, I want people to think that I was a great mom and a great family member and a great friend. I care about that more than I care about anything else."
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