Melinda Ann French grew up in a family that valued education. Her father was an aerospace engineer and her mother was a homemaker. She attended Ursuline Academy of Dallas, then enrolled at Duke University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and economics in 1986 and an MBA in 1987.
She joined Microsoft in 1987 as a product manager and spent a decade at the company, eventually serving as general manager of information products. Her work involved consumer software and multimedia products. At Microsoft she met Bill Gates; the couple married in 1994 and raised three children.
In 2000, the couple consolidated their charitable giving into the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As co-chair, Melinda Gates helped set its agenda and direct billions of dollars toward vaccines, polio and malaria control, agricultural development, and U.S. education. She became a leading voice for connecting women's health and economic opportunity to broader development goals, and the foundation grew into one of the largest private philanthropies in the world. In 2016, she and Bill Gates received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Gates founded Pivotal Ventures in 2015 to invest in and incubate ideas that advance women and families. Her 2019 book, The Moment of Lift, explored how empowering women improves communities. She and Bill Gates divorced in 2021. In 2024, she stepped down as co-chair of the Gates Foundation and announced that she would focus her philanthropy on women and girls, supported by a $12.5 billion commitment from Bill Gates.
Melinda Gates was born on August 15, 1964 in Dallas, Texas, United States. In Cardology (Destiny Cards), August 15, 1964 corresponds to the Jack of Clubs, making the Jack of Clubs her Birth Card.
In numerology, the name adds another layer to the birth-date profile. The letters of a person’s name are used to explore inner motivation, personality, expression, and the qualities they bring into relationships and everyday life. Explore how her original name Melinda Ann French influences her life and personality.
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