Melinda Gates, born on August 15, 1964, graduated from the Department of Computer Science at Duke University in the United States, and later obtained an MBA degree. Then he entered Microsoft Corporation as he wished, and achieved impressive performance as a manager. Before marrying Bill Gates, Melinda had already made an impressive performance at Microsoft. She serves as the head of a department with more than one hundred employees. After marrying Gates, Melinda became a full-time wife. Melinda cleaned up the house very warmly and built a family library. Melinda and Gates established the largest foundation in the United States, the Gates Foundation, and served as chairman.
In 1987, when Melinda was 22 years old, she came to Seattle and worked as a marketing manager at Microsoft. As the youngest employee and the only female MBA, at that time, she didn't know what the future would be like, let alone what Microsoft meant to her. Smart people are everywhere, they are changing the world. However, she was not used to the company culture there, she felt their acrimony, she thought, maybe she will leave there soon. Life takes a turn for the better at accidental moments. One day four months later, she was on a business trip to New York for the first time. At a dinner, she sat next to CEO Bill Gates. Melinda is not a beauty, but when he recalled the first meeting, Bill always said that her appearance attracted him. "My dear, if you win time, then I won money." On January 1, 1994, in the singing of Willie Nelson, Bill and Melinda had their wedding. On that day, there were 6 billionaires among the guests, and the groom had booked all cars, helicopters and 520 hotel rooms on the island of Lanai in Hawaii. After getting married, Melinda gave birth to three children. After the birth of her eldest daughter in 1996, she became a full-time wife and took care of the children. As Microsoft President Ballmer believed, "She will make Bill run faster. Otherwise, Bill will not propose to her.
Forbes released the world’s 15 most powerful couples in 2012. Microsoft founder and technology mogul Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates are on the list, ranking third, behind Hillary and Bill Clinton. As the world’s richest man, Gates’ assets are approximately US$46 billion, but the Gates and his wife have always said that they will donate most of their assets. The main channel for the Gates’ donations is through the "Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation." Now the total assets of the foundation are as high as 28.8 billion U.S. dollars, making it the world's largest charitable foundation. As one of the founders of the foundation, Melinda quit her job as a full-time wife after giving birth to her first child in 1996, and is actively committed to the charity work of the foundation. Gates once said in an interview that if there was no Melinda, there would probably be no foundation. In fact, Gates is piling up wealth every day, and his accompanying wife is wondering how to spend the money. Although she can fully enjoy the richest material life in the world, Melinda is different from ordinary ladies. Melinda is not keen on shopping and dressing up. She acts like a business woman. She is very efficient in the management of charitable foundations, with clear goals and an urgent sense of responsibility.
Melinda also plays a huge role in the investment of foundation assets. Whenever she and Gates choose a new donation direction and donation location, they will ask two questions: What problem affects the most people? What problems have we overlooked in the past? Although many philanthropists use the same approach, the Gates are more strict. Melinda said: "We will carefully examine all injustices and strive to bring the greatest change through donations." Therefore, although the Gates Foundation does not donate to the American Cancer Society, it is in order to cure those who cause more deaths. Of diseases, including AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, donated billions of dollars. Under normal circumstances, Gates pays more attention to vaccine research and scientific solutions that may be effective in the future, while Melinda pays more attention to helping patients relieve pain immediately.
In 1993, the Gates’ first trip to Africa had an important influence on their subsequent charity. In Zaire, they saw barefoot women having to walk several miles to the market with a jug on their head and a child in their arms. In Kenya, they were invited to participate in a Maasai circumcision ceremony. All over Africa, they also saw countless hungry and skinny children on the road. All this upset Melinda and Gates. Later, they found the "World Development Report" of that year, and the contents shocked them even more. Melinda said: "Children in Africa will die of diarrhea and other very common diseases, and simple vaccination can completely avoid these tragedies. We realize that we must learn more about this, and we know that. The more you get, the more you feel you can’t wait any longer.” Melinda has invested money and enthusiasm for medical and poverty issues in Africa, but she doesn’t think she can solve these problems on her own. "Compared to the problem, our efforts are just a drop in the ocean."