Embed from Getty Images
Bill and Melinda French Gates were married for 27 years before they finalized their divorce in August 2021. They had three children together, Jennifer, 27, Phoebe, 22, and Rory, 25. It was messy, and there were a lot of dramatic revelations about Bill that came out during those months in between when Melinda filed and their divorce was finalized. No one knows the exact figure, but Melinda ended up getting several billion dollars as a part of their settlement, which includes billions in stock.
Post-divorce, Melinda has continued with her philanthropy through her foundation, Pivotal Ventures. She’s also been a vocal critic of Donald Trump. In late 2022, she started dating reporter Jon Du Pre, but their relationship ended sometime earlier this year. It looks like she has a new man now, though! On Wednesday, Melinda was spotted in New York City, holding hands with her new boyfriend, an entrepreneur named Philip Vaughn, who founded a craft beer delivery service in 2011. One other fun fact about Philip: he worked for Microsoft for almost nine years in the early 2000’s.
The 60-year-old philanthropist, who divorced billionaire Bill Gates in 2021, was seen holding hands with her new boyfriend, entrepreneur Philip Vaughn, in photos exclusively obtained by Page Six.
The couple was snapped getting off a helicopter ride in New York City Wednesday morning with Vaughn exiting first and Melinda following close behind. The pair then walked hand-in-hand before getting into an awaiting SUV.
For the outing, Melinda wore dark-colored pants and a short-sleeved overcoat. She completed the look with a floral scarf around her neck and a pair of sneakers. Meanwhile, Vaughn sported an Army green T-shirt under a blue sweater and dark-colored pants.
According to Vaughn’s LinkedIn profile, he worked at Microsoft — the company Melinda’s ex-husband, Bill, co-founded, for nearly nine years. He is also the founder and chairman of Tavour, a craft beer delivery service, which was started in 2011.
Melinda’s new relationship comes three years after she and Bill, 69, announced and finalized their divorce. During a March 2022 interview with “CBS Morning,” the mom of three revealed that the tech giant’s relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as well as his affairs, played a role in their split.
“I did not like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein, no. I made that clear to him,” she shared with Gayle King before adding that she met Epstein, who died by suicide in jail in August 2019, “exactly one time” because she “wanted to see who this man was.”
“I regretted it the second I walked in the door,” she explained. “He was abhorrent. He was evil personified. My heart breaks for these women.”
Bill also had a lengthy affair with one of his Microsoft staffers in 2019. However, Melinda said she and her ex had moved past his indiscretion before their divorce.
“I certainly believe in forgiveness, so I thought we had worked through some of that,” she explained to King.
“It wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened. There just came a point in time where there was enough there where I realized it just wasn’t healthy, and I couldn’t trust what we had.”
Following the divorce, Melinda said she and Bill remained “friendly” but certainly weren’t “friends.”
Get it, Melinda. After what Bill put her through, she seriously deserves to find someone who makes her happy and treats her like a queen. I can’t find too much info on Philip, but it looks as though, like Melinda, he’s based in the Seattle area. It’s funny that he used to work for Microsoft. I wonder if they knew each other before now, but it’s been almost 25 years since he worked for the company, so it’s probably just a coincidence. Although, it would be pretty wild if they’ve been longtime friends since his Microsoft days, and it recently turned into something more.
Anyway, I wish nothing but the best for Melinda and hope she continues to speak out in favor of reproductive rights and advocate for women and families. She and MacKenzie Scott should form their own version of the First Wives Club. It could be made up of fellow billionaire ex-wives who get revenge on their sh-tty ex-husbands by using their settlement money for good.
Melinda French Gates holds hands with new entrepreneur boyfriend Philip Vaughn as they arrive in NYC via helicopter https://t.co/bWt30Z8YnS pic.twitter.com/18KU758PWK
— Page Six (@PageSix) October 30, 2024
Good for Melinda I wish her well.
Absolutely! Wishing her contentment and peace. Also love her take on meeting Epstein. No minced words
That link to his LinkedIn is diabolical ahaha
I respect that women have reasons for keeping and dropping their spouses and ex-spouses names. But I always wished that she had dropped her ex’s last name for that extra see-you-never burn.
“Friendly but not friends” is my favorite personal tidbit. She loathes you, Bill. And please, know that you earned it.
Microsoft is one of the big employers in the Seattle area along with Amazon, Costco, and I’m sure there’s more I don’t know about. If you did a survey of people who lived in the Seattle area who had worked at Microsoft at one point in their career, the percentage is probably pretty high. But maybe Melinda did know Philip at one point? She deserves all the happiness after what Bill put her through. I’m interested to see what she does with her philanthropy now that she’s no longer tethered to Bill.
This guy is H O T! yeah, GET IT, Melinda! I love this for her… and that schlubby Bill is forever out on his a$$.
and, at age 57, he’s just 3 years younger. Philip, do not let our Melinda down!
Melinda & MacKenzie’s approaches to philanthropy are quite notably different, but in a recent(ish?) interview, Melinda said they are friends, behind the scenes, preferring to keep it private.