Born on August 15, 1964, into the family of Mr and Mrs Raymond French is a philanthropist and businesswoman Melina French Gates. She is the ex-wife of billionaire Bill Gates.
Ms French was born into a catholic family and the second of four children. She has an older sister and two younger brothers. Her dad, Raymond Joseph French Jr., is an aerospace engineer, and her mom Elaine Agnes Amerland is a typical housewife.
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Education
Ms French attended St. Monica Catholic School and finished top in her class. Her father gifted her an Apple II and her school teacher volunteered to teach girls basic programming. This brought about her interest in computer science. She went ahead to bag a bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986 but before then she was already a certified valedictorian (in 1982) from Ursuline Academy of Dallas. She didn’t stop there, she got her MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business in 1987.
Career
French Gates’s started her career as a teacher. She taught children mathematics and computer programming. After graduation, she joined Microsoft and became a marketing manager. She was responsible for Microsoft multimedia products namely included Cinemania, Encarta, Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Money, Works (Macintosh) and Word. She also worked on Expedia and did a good job in making it one of the most popular travel booking websites. As a top scholar, she was appointed General Manager of Information Products and held the role till he resigned to focus on her family.
Melina French Gates Husband and Family
Ms Melina French met Bill Gates at a trade fair in New York in 1987 and they started dating the same year, got married in 1994 in a private wedding ceremony held in Lanai, Hawaii and the marriage is blessed with three children Jennifer, Rory and Phoebe Gates. They settled in an earth-sheltered mansion overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington.
In 2021, she and her husband, Bill Gates, (to the world’s amazement) announced on social media their joint decision to end their 27 years of marriage. Ms French had been warning her husband about his dealings with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein since 2013 but he didn’t listen so in October 2019 she decided to start the divorce process. By August 2021 the marriage was history. Bill transferred shares worth over $2 billion to her even as she didn’t request spousal support,
Melina French Gates Net worth
Melina Frech had a successful career while she worked at Microsoft. She is currently worth $6 billion.
Ms French is a philanthropist. She partnered with her then-husband to set up Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the duo did a good job in touching lives positively when they were a couple. After their divorce, she announced that she will not continue working with the Gates foundation but intends to work with different philanthropic organisations just to keep spreading love.
Writing
You will be surprised to know that Ms Melina French is a writer. She wrote The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. Even former president Obama featured in the comedy sketch to promote it.
Social Media
| Social Media Platform | Handle |
| Melinda French Gates | |
| @melindagates | |
| @melindafrenchgates |
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