Melinda French Gates’ split from Bill Gates and their shared charities is what’s led her to speak out on political topics like abortion and endorse Kamala Harris for president.
The philanthropist, 60, said in a lengthy profile that no longer having to speak for her ex-husband – the billionaire Microsoft co-founder – or their Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is freeing.
‘Now I do get to make whatever decision I want to make about endorsing or not endorsing on my own,’ she said.
Her decisions since their 2021 split and her 2024 departure from the foundation have included announcing her intent to vote and raise money – currently to the tune of over $13 million – for Harris alongside 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 are voting for’ ahead of Hillary Clinton’s loss to Donald Trump.
‘There were more considerations because I was the head of a foundation’ before the split, she admits.
When asked how high the giving would go to liberals this cycle, she said she was ‘not going to put a number on it.’
While anonymous Democrats told the New York Times they wish she’d made her views – and money – known sooner, she’s embarking on a new era after demanding the foundation she ran appear bipartisan.
Previously, French Gates even donated to Republicans like Elise Stefanik or Shelley Moore Caputo, Republicans who oppose abortion.
French Gates had previously said that abortion was not on her agenda while running the foundation, either.
She claims that the turning point for her politically was an unsuccessful drive for a guaranteed paid family leave law by Joe Biden in 2021.
A spokesperson for the Campaign For a Family Friendly Economy, who have gotten $3 million from her, said French Gates ‘saw that we had a political problem and that political problems require political solutions.’
A lot of the giving has been inspired by two of her three children, Rory and Phoebe, who have become liberal activists and donors.
Son Rory, whom she wrote in an op-ed she had raised to be a feminist, is considered a figure for Democrat money movers, though he has also donated to Nikki Haley.
A Puck report in 2023 called him a ‘rich target for Democratic social-climbers, influence-peddlers, and all variety of money chasers.’
French Gates says that Rory ‘helped me open my eyes and educated me more’ about his progressive values while he works as a ‘Congressional analyst,’ according to Business Insider.
Phoebe, one of her two daughters, also contributes to liberal causes in the six-figure range and has a social media presence as an influencer on abortion rights and sustainability, with 450,000 followers on Instagram.
She has revealed she lost friends over conspiracy theories about her billionaire dad.
The billionaire Microsoft co-founder asked his daughter in a new Netflix docuseries if she had ever come across conspiracy theories about him – including that the COVID pandemic was a ploy to allow Bill Gates to put microchips in vaccines that would allow him to track people.
‘All the time,’ Phoebe responded. ‘I’ve even had friends cut me off because of these vaccine rumors,’ she said.
The 22-year-old reproductive rights activist recently graduated from Stanford University with a degree in human biology, and was invited onto her father’s show as she was finishing up her senior year.
She said at the time 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 Democrat nominee, she said that women will make the difference in the 2024 presidential election as she reveals who she will cast a ballot for this November.
French Gates has long been connected to Democrats, with Barack Obama helping to promote her book.
She spoke to Gayle King for an interview where she discussed how she felt women were the key factor in deciding the 2022 midterm elections.
‘Women turned out in the mid-term elections and said, ‘This is enough.’ And we’ve gotta do it again,’ she told CBS News.
Gates – who has a net worth of approximately $11 billion according to Forbes and is ready to be active in this election – then made it clear who she’s backing in 2024.
‘I absolutely am not voting for Trump, and I will vote for Biden,’ she said.
Billionaire Gates also said that it’s ‘more than likely’ she would campaign for and endorse the current president.
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 $929,600, to the Harris campaign in July after she announced her intention to run.
She has since disclosed over $10 million in contributions to progressive groups like EMILYs List and Women Vote, a massive increase from the largest donation she had ever made prior to 2022, $35,800.
French Gates has also spoken personally to Harris about public events centered around caregivers and parenting.
The philanthropist says that she’s voted for Republicans in the past but that Trump’s words about women and policies regarding women are a dealbreaker.
Gates has slammed Trump in the past, condemning the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying that a lack of leadership at the national level has led to ‘chaos’ across the board.
The billionaire philanthropist, who co-chairs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation along with her Microsoft co-founder husband, did not mince words when asked to weigh in on America’s handling of the global health crisis in an interview.
‘I’m both surprised we weren’t better prepared, but quite honestly I’m surprised we’ve wasted so much time. That we haven’t had leadership at the national level to get out tests in the right way, protective gear in the right way, contact tracing in the right way,’ Gates said.
‘With lack of leadership, there are 50 homegrown state solutions, and that just shouldn’t be.’
Her friendship with the Obamas includes a partnership with former First Lady Michelle to work to end child marriage.
The mother-of-three, who has had no public romances since her relationship with Jon was revealed back in 2022, did seem more eager to conceal the bauble during her latest outing however – crossing her arms over her chest in what could well have been an attempt to hide the dazzler from view.
Melinda and Bill split after nearly three decades of marriage in 2021.
The couple released a statement at the time of their split and revealed that their wasn’t just ‘one moment’ that led to it.
Despite their estranged relationship, the couple seems to continue to be doting parents to their children.