Melinda French Gates’ breakup with Bill Gates and his enormous philanthropic projects led her to speak out on political issues, while her children are becoming important players in Democratic politics.
The humanitarian, 60, said in a lengthy profile that no longer having to defend her ex-husband, the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, or her Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is liberating.
“Now I can make any decision I want about endorsing or not endorsing on my own,” he said.
Their decisions since their separation in 2021 and their departure from the foundation in 2024 have included announcing her intention to vote and raise money (currently to the tune of over $13 million) for Harris along with her activist children..
It’s a stark contrast from 2016, when she said in an interview that she and her husband “keep private who we’re voting for” before Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump.
Melinda French Gates’ (pictured with Michelle Obama) split from Bill Gates and their shared charities is what led her to speak out on political issues like abortion and endorsing Kamala Harris for president.
It’s a stark contrast from 2016, when she said in an interview that she and her husband “keep private who we’re voting for” before Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump. He has now endorsed Harris and is planning public events.
“There were more considerations because I was director of a foundation” before the separation, she admits.
When asked how far donations to the Liberals would go this cycle, he said he was “not going to put a number on it.”
While anonymous Democrats told the New York Times If only he had made his views (and money) known sooner, he is embarking on a new era after demanding that the foundation he ran appear bipartisan.
Previously, French Gates even donated to Republicans like Elise Stefanik and Shelley Moore Caputo, Republicans who oppose abortion.
French Gates had previously said that abortion was also not on his agenda while he ran the foundation.
She claims the turning point for her politically was an unsuccessful campaign to get Joe Biden to pass a guaranteed paid family leave law in 2021.
A spokesman for the Campaign for a Family-Friendly Economy, which received $3 million from her, said French Gates “saw that we had a political problem and that political problems require political solutions.”
Much of the giving has been inspired by two of his three children, Rory and Phoebe, who have become liberal activists and donors.
Her decisions since their separation in 2021 and her departure from the foundation in 2024 have included announcing her intention to vote and raising money (currently to the tune of more than $13 million) for Harris along with her activist children.
Previously, French Gates even donated to Republicans like Elise Stefanik and Shelley Moore Caputo, Republicans who oppose abortion.
Son Rory, whom he wrote in an op-ed that he had framed as a feminist, is considered a figure among Democratic money donors, although he has also donated to Nikki Haley.
TO Disk A 2023 report called him a “rich target for Democratic social climbers, influence peddlers and all varieties of money hunters.”
French Gates says Rory “helped open my eyes and educated me more” about his progressive values while working as a “congressional analyst,” according to Insider business information.
Phoebe, one of his two daughters, also contributes to liberal causes in the six figures and has a social media presence as an influencer on abortion rights and sustainability, with 450,000 followers on instagram.
She has revealed that she lost friends over conspiracy theories about her billionaire father.
The billionaire Microsoft co-founder asked his daughter in a new Netflix docuseries if she had ever encountered conspiracy theories about him, including that the COVID pandemic was a ploy to allow Bill Gates to put microchips in people’s bodies. vaccines that would allow you to track people.
“All the time,” Phoebe replied. “Even some friends rejected me because of these vaccine rumors,” he said.
The 22-year-old reproductive rights activist recently graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in human biology and was invited to her father’s show as she was finishing her senior year.
Son Rory, whom he wrote in an op-ed as a feminist, is considered a figure among Democratic moneymakers, although he has also donated to Nikki Haley.
Phoebe, one of his two daughters, also contributes to liberal causes in the six figures and has a social media presence as an influencer on abortion rights and sustainability, with 450,000 followers on Instagram.
She said at the time that she was concerned about the ability to effectively communicate accurate health information as misinformation spreads online.
Earlier this year, when Joe Biden was still the Democratic nominee, he said women will make a difference in the 2024 presidential election by revealing who he will vote for this November.
French Gates has long been connected to Democrats and Barack Obama helped promote her book.
She spoke with Gayle King for an interview in which she discussed how she felt women were the key factor in deciding the 2022 midterm elections.
“Women came to the midterm elections and said, ‘This is enough.’ And we have to do it again,” she said. CBS News.
Gates – who has a net worth of approximately $11 billion according to Forbes and is ready to actively participate in these elections; He then made it clear who he will support in 2024.
“I’m not going to vote for Trump at all, and I’m going to vote for Biden,” he said.
Billionaire Gates also said that it is “more than likely” that she will campaign and endorse the current president.
Melinda Gates has said she will “absolutely” vote for Donald Trump and believes women will make a difference in the 2024 presidential election.
However, once Harris replaced Biden at the top of the ticket, she became active in terms of her money.
The Times reported that French Gates donated close to the legal maximum of $929,600 to Harris’ campaign in July after she announced her intention to run.
Since then, she has disclosed more than $10 million in contributions to progressive groups like EMILYs List and Women Vote, a massive increase from the largest donation she had made before 2022, $35,800.
French Gates has also spoken personally with Harris about public events focused on caregivers and parenting.
The philanthropist says she voted Republican in the past, but Trump’s words about women and women’s policies are a deciding factor.
Gates has criticized Trump in the past, condemning the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying the lack of leadership at the national level has led to “chaos” across the board.
The billionaire philanthropist, who co-chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation with her Microsoft co-founder husband, didn’t mince words when asked to weigh in on the United States’ handling of the global health crisis in an interview.
“I’m both surprised that we weren’t better prepared, but honestly, I’m surprised that we wasted so much time. “That we haven’t had leadership at the national level to do testing the right way, protective equipment the right way, contact tracing the right way,” Gates said.
“With a lack of leadership, there are 50 local state solutions, and that simply should not be the case.”
Her friendship with the Obamas includes a partnership with former first lady Michelle to work to end child marriage.
However, the mother-of-three, who has not had any public romances since her relationship with Jon was revealed in 2022, seemed more eager to hide the bauble during her latest outing – crossing her arms over her chest in what could well have been been an attempt to hide the glare from view.
Melinda and Bill separated after nearly three decades of marriage in 2021.
The couple released a statement at the time of their split and revealed that it wasn’t just “a moment” that led to it.
Despite their estranged relationship, the couple appears to remain loving parents to their children.