Bill Gates' broken marriage, affair and new partner who is a millionaire's widow
Bill Gates has found love again - just two years after his bitter divorce from ex-wife Melinda.
The 67-year-old Microsoft billionaire, who split from the mother of his three children in 2021 after 27 years of marriage, is now dating Paula Hurd.
No one knew the identity of Gate's 'mystery woman' until now - and the tennis-loving pair are said to be 'inseparable'.
Paula, 60, was previously a tech executive herself but is now an event planner and philanthropist, and is the widow of former Oracle co-CEO and president Mark Hurd.
Mark sadly died in 2019 after a reported battle with cancer at the age of 62 - and had an estimated net worth of $500 million at the time of his death.
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Gates, who has a net worth of $106 billion, has been with his partner for a year - and it comes after the breakdown of his marriage to Melinda.
Bill Gates with new partner Paula Hurd at this year's US Open (AFP via Getty Images)Melinda French married Gates on a Hawaiian island on New Year's Day in 1994, having met while they both worked at Microsoft in 1987.
Somewhat controversially, Gates was given permission by Melinda to spend limited time with his ex-girlfriend, businesswoman Ann Winblad.
Bill and Melinda had three kids together, Jennifer, 26, Rory, 23, and Phoebe, 20.
But their marriage wasn't all roses, as Bill allegedly had an affair with a Microsoft employee, which was reportedly being probed by the company's board when he stepped down in 2020.
The woman allegedly penned a letter to the board of directors in 2019, in which it's also claimed she asked that Melinda was able to read it.
A Microsoft spokesman told the Wall Street Journal: "Microsoft received a concern in the latter half of 2019 that Bill Gates sought to initiate an intimate relationship with a company employee in the year 2000.
"A committee of the Board reviewed the concern, aided by an outside law firm to conduct a thorough investigation. Throughout the investigation, Microsoft provided extensive support to the employee who raised the concern."
Bill and Melinda Gates got divorced in 2021 (Elaine Thompson/AP/REX/Shutterstock)A spokesman for Bill acknowledged that he had an affair, but that it had nothing to do with him stepping down from the board at Microsoft.
"There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably," the statement read. "In fact, he had expressed an interest in spending more time on his philanthropy starting several years earlier."
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In May, 2021, the Gates' announced they had decided to divorce after 27 years of marriage and 34 years as a couple.
Their joint statement read: "After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage.
They stated they would continue to work together on their charitable endeavours but "we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives".
Then in March last year, Melinda opened up on the factors which led to their high profile divorce.
"Those are questions Bill needs to answer," she told CBS Mornings when asked about reports he cheated on her.
The former couple were married for 27 years (Getty Images for Robin Hood)"I believe in forgiveness. I thought we had worked through some of that," Melinda said about his 2000 affair with a Microsoft employee.
"I gave every single piece of myself to this marriage. I was committed from the day we got engaged to the day I got out of it."
In the tell-all interview, she spoke about sobbing on the floor as her marriage fell apart, but never believed it would end in divorce.
"There just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realised it just wasn’t healthy," she said. "I couldn't trust what we had."
Melinda said the ex-couple were on "friendly" terms but claimed they were not friends as there was still healing that needed to happen.
In response to his ex-wife's comments, Bill said: "This was a very tough thing. … We had a lot of amazing things in our marriage. The kids, the foundation, the enjoyment we had. And so it's a very hard adjustment."
He continued: "I know divorces are different, but it’s just a complete change. We were partners, we kind of grew up together, and now that's different. We're not married."
Mark Hurd was President and CEO of Hewlett Packard (Getty Images)In another interview in May 2022, Gates admitted to making "mistakes" and said he would "take responsibility" when asked if he had been unfaithful.
"The divorce is definitely a sad thing," the billionaire said. "I have responsibility for causing a lot of pain to my family. It was a tough year. I feel good that all of us are moving forward now."
Gates added: "Melinda and I are continuing to work together. It was sad and tragic, but now we’re moving together."
He refused to disclose additional details about the affair, saying: "I don't think delving into the particulars at this point is constructive, but yes, I caused pain and I feel terrible about that."
Now Gates is dating Paula Hurd, and the pair were recently spotted watching the Men's Singles Final together at the Australian Open.
"They're inseparable," a friend of the rumoured couple told the Daily Mail Wednesday. "They've been together over a year, and she's always described as a 'mystery woman', but it's no mystery to their inner circle that they’re in a romantic relationship."
The pair ran in the same circles along with Paula's late husband, Mark Hurd, who ran computer and printer maker Hewlett-Packard from 2005 to 2010.
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