Melinda French Gates’ net worth: Life after her billion-dollar divorce

Melinda French Gates is no stranger to change: After three children and more than two decades of being Mrs. Bill Gates, wife of the planet’s richest man, she knew she needed to end her marriage. In giving her reasons why, French Gates alluded to her husband’s previous affairs with Microsoft employees, his ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and the simple fact that they no longer shared trust or honesty together, which are critical components to sustaining any relationship.

French Gates knew that divorcing her husband wouldn’t be easy—after all, Bill Gates is one of the toughest negotiators in the business world—but in an interview with People Magazine she said that it was something she “had to” do. The Gateses separated in 2019, and their divorce took two years to complete, with both parties acknowledging the pained they endured in the process. But when all was said and done, their divorce was finalized on August 2, 2021, and since they did not have a prenuptial agreement in place, French Gates walked away with a reported $25 billion settlement—making it the most expensive divorce in history.

So, what is French Gates doing with all of her money?

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What is Melinda French Gates’ net worth in 2025?

According to Forbes, as of April 2025, French Gates has a net worth of $30.2 billion. The publication recently revised its estimate of her divorce settlement higher, adding a whopping $19.3 billion to her bottom line.

Related: Bill Gates’ net worth in 2025: How much has he made (& given away)?

This hefty sum places French Gates in rarefied air: She now ranks among Forbes’ list of the 10 richest women on Earth, a list that’s made up mostly of American heiresses, like Jacqueline Mars, the granddaughter of Mars’ Candy founder, Franklin Clarence Mars, and widows like as Alice Walton, who was married to Walmart’s founder, Sam Walton.

(To find the self-made female billionaires, you need to scroll much further down Forbes’ list: Oprah Winfrey’s $3 billion net worth stems largely from profits from her long-running talk show, while, thanks to the success of the “Eras Tour,” Taylor Swift’s net worth grew 45% in 2025, to $2 billion.)

The 10 Richest Women in the World 2025

However, being one of the richest women on the planet isn’t a title French Gates is eager to print out on business cards.

In fact, she’s admitted that she considers her staggering wealth to be an “absurdity,” and is determined to give most of it away, pledging $1 billion in 2024 alone in support of women’s and girls’ rights. This marks monumental progress in advancing female causes, since these demographics have historically been underserved by philanthropy; according to the Associated Press, they receive less than 2% of overall charitable dollars. “It’s frustrating—even heartbreaking—to confront evidence of the many ways our country continues to hold women back,” French Gates wrote on her website.

French Gates previously co-chaired the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which donated over $77.6 billion toward improving healthcare and reducing poverty around the planet during her 24-year tenure. But on June 7, 2024, French Gates resigned from the Gates Foundation without stating a reason; what she did disclose was that under the terms of her agreement, her resignation actually empowered her further—giving her an additional $12.5 billion to commit to her work.

What is Melinda French Gates’ new foundation?

Actually, her foundation isn’t new. In what might be seen in hindsight as smart planning for a future career as a solo decisionmaker, in 2015, French Gates started her own foundation, Pivotal Ventures. It prioritized initiatives that helped to empower women and addressed issues specifically impacting them, such as reproductive rights, policy research, educational support, legal aid, and equity—not just in the United States, but also around the world.

Related: Oprah’s net worth in 2025: How the “Queen of Media” got so rich

The charity has already committed $2 billion in funding to nonprofits such as the Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity, MomsRising Education Fund, and the National Women’s Law Center.

Noteworthy recipients of the organization’s $20 million grants include Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble, founder of The AAKOMA Project, Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix, filmmaker Ava DuVernay, and Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Roberta Gbowee.

Melinda and Bill Gates quarantined together at their Seattle mansion, Xanadu, in 2020.

Getty Images/Getty Images for Global Citizen

Why did Melinda leave Bill Gates?

The New York Times reported that the Covid-19 pandemic completely changed the Gates’ way of life, and both Melinda and Bill were stuck quarantining together in their 66,000-square foot mansion, Xanadu, located on the shore of Lake Washington in Seattle. They continued to run their foundation but were rarely seen in public, with Bill describing his new setup as “very abnormal.”

But as French-Gates revealed in her new memoir, “The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward,” she had been pondering changes even earlier than that. In fact, a series of bad dreams she had in 2019 ultimately resulted in her life-changing decisions.

French-Gates started having recurring nightmares about a beautiful house that collapsed around her. Then the nightmares got worse, morphing into a scenario that pitted her and her family on the edge of a cliff—with only French Gates falling down its side.

“As dramatic as it sounds, I knew, in that moment, that I was going to have to make a decision—and that I was going to have to make it by myself,” she told People Magazine.

French Gates began listening to the clues her inner voice was giving her in order to stay true to herself and her values. “When I first started hearing the voice in my head telling me I needed to end my marriage, I thought my whole world would end. But it didn’t,” she explained to Good Housekeeping, “Not at all. I’m doing just fine.”

Bill, in turn, has admitted to his share of failures in the couple’s 27-year marriage, telling The Times of Britain that his divorce was “the mistake I most regret.”

Thankfully, time has healed a lot of the couple’s wounds and they now consider themselves on friendlier terms, with French Gates adding that they see each other at family events, like graduations. Bill has even said that although they didn’t get their happy ending, he’d do it all over, telling “Today” that “having those three kids, the work we were able to do together—even if I knew that it [wouldn’t] last forever, I would still do it again.”

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What did Melinda French Gates do at Microsoft?

Born on August 15, 1964 in Dallas, Texas, Melinda Ann French showed an early aptitude for computer programming. She was the valedictorian of her high school, Ursuline Academy of Dallas, and went on to obtain a dual degree in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986. She earned her MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in 1987. 

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After graduation, French was hired by Microsoft, where she worked as a marketing manager in an office where women were largely in the minority. French worked on the company’s Encarta, Expedia, Publisher, Money, and Word programs and was promoted to the position of General Manager of Information products in the early 1990s.

French and began dating Bill Gates in 1987; they were married in a private ceremony in Hawaii in 1994. They share three children: Daughters Jennifer Gates Nassar (born 1996) and Phoebe Gates (b. 2002), and son Rory Gates (b. 1999).   

Melinda French Gates’ book

In 2019, French Gates wrote “The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World,” sharing lessons she learned from inspiring women she had met thus far on her life’s journey.

On April 15, 2015, French Gates’ second book, her memoir, was published. “The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward” is a reflection of pivotal moments in the philanthropist’s life, including becoming a parent, losing a dear friend, and stepping away from the Gates Foundation, and is meant to serve as a guide as well as an inspiration for others navigating similar transitions.

What is Melinda French Gates doing now?

In 2021, French Gates moved out of the family’s massive Xanadu complex and bought a $1.2 million cottage in Seattle’s North Broadway neighborhood.

French Gates savors her new urban life, telling Time Magazine “Now I can walk to little stores. I can walk to the drugstore, I can walk to a restaurant—I absolutely love it.”

Today, French Gates devotes her time between her nonprofit, Pivotal Ventures, and her family. She became a grandmother for the first time in 2023 and now has two granddaughters: Leila (born March 2023) and Mia (b. November 2024). 

She also has a new boyfriend, and although she is reluctant to share details about him, People Magazine captured the two holding hands heading into New York City’s famed French restaurant, Le Bernardin. People identified him as 48-year-old tech entrepreneur, Philip Vaughn. He worked for Microsoft between 1999 and 2008.

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