Melinda French Gates has spoken about how she intends to use the vast wealth she received after her divorce from Bill Gates, outlining a major focus on women’s health and the wider rollback of women’s rights.
The comments come as fresh attention has also been placed on her former husband, after the Microsoft co-founder appeared before a congressional committee and was questioned about his past connection to Jeffrey Epstein.
Bill Gates has previously acknowledged spending time with Epstein, while maintaining that he neither took part in nor saw any illegal conduct. He has also said he regrets ever being associated with him.
He has not been accused of any crime or wrongdoing linked to that association.
A transcript from Gates’ committee appearance stated that Epstein had tried to pressure him by using private details about his personal life, including his infidelity during his marriage.
“I learned Epstein had become aware of sensitive information about my personal life, including the fact that I had been unfaithful in my marriage,” the transcript said. “These affairs had nothing to do with my interactions with Epstein, but they were painful for my family.”
Bill and Melinda French Gates were married for 27 years before announcing their divorce in May 2021.
In his remarks to lawmakers, Gates said Epstein had tried to use that information against him in an effort to draw him back into contact.
“As the public can now see, based on what has been released in the files, Epstein was working to use information about my infidelities — in addition to many lies that he layered on top — to pressure me to re-engage with him.
“He was unsuccessful in this effort, but it shows some of the ways he tried to leverage his interactions with me to further his agenda.”
Meanwhile, French Gates discussed in an interview with The Guardian how she is directing money from her divorce settlement toward causes she considers urgent.
After stepping down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in June 2024, French Gates said she would devote the next chapter of her philanthropy to work on behalf of women and families. Under the terms announced when she left the foundation, she received an additional $12.5 billion to direct through her own giving.
Much of that work is being carried out through Pivotal, the organisation she founded to accelerate social progress for women and families in the US and around the world.
That includes a $215 million commitment to women’s healthcare efforts, with support aimed at areas such as menopause care, maternity services, and reproductive healthcare.
The initiative forms part of a broader $1 billion commitment French Gates announced in 2024 to advance women’s power, rights and influence globally through 2026.
“I’ve always believed if you don’t start with good health, it’s pretty hard to live up to whatever it is you want to do in your life,” she said.
Her latest women’s health push argues that the area remains dramatically underfunded, with Pivotal saying that for every dollar spent globally on medical research and innovation, only five cents goes toward women’s health.
She said women’s needs have too often been overlooked.
“We have under-prioritised women for so long.”
French Gates said one of the areas she especially wants to highlight is menopause.
“It’s like this time in a woman’s life is literally invisible to the world.”
She has also pointed to the wider impact of poor care across a woman’s life, arguing that health systems often fail women at key moments, from their reproductive years through to menopause.
She also explained why the issue matters so deeply to her, pointing to the changing rights facing younger generations of women.
“My granddaughters are growing up with fewer rights than I had.
“I don’t think women’s health should be a political issue. I think women should decide if and when to have a child, and those decisions are best made in the privacy of our lives, not by our government.”
French Gates has increasingly made clear that her philanthropy will be more explicitly focused on countering what she sees as setbacks in women’s rights, especially in the US, while expanding funding for healthcare, caregiving and economic opportunity.