Democracy Dies in Darkness

Melinda French Gates resigns from the Gates Foundation

Three years after her divorce from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, she plans to embark on her own philanthropic venture.

By Taylor Telford

Updated May 13, 2024 at 3:40 p.m. EDT|Published May 13, 2024 at 1:39 p.m. EDT

Melinda French Gates at the 2022 White House correspondents’ dinner in D.C. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Washington Post)

3 min

Billionaire philanthropist and business executive Melinda French Gates announced Monday that she is resigning from the foundation she co-founded with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, her former husband, to start her own philanthropic venture.

She was serving as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which has spent nearly $54 billion since 2000 fighting “poverty, disease, and inequity” around the world, according to its website. Now, three years after the couple’s divorce, French Gates is striking out on her own.