Bill Gates' dating history: From early love stories to Melinda French Gates and Paula Hurd, a closer look at his love life

The Microsoft founder Bill Gates has named three women he had extramarital affairs with during his 27-year marriage to Melinda French Gates. The billionaire was talking to the US House Oversight and Reform Committee as part of an investigation regarding his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial for sex crimes.The transcript released by the committee on Tuesday reveals that the tech pioneer had affairs with two Russian women, naming them as Mila Antonova, a bridge player, and Karima Nigmatulina, a nuclear physicist. He admitted to a third affair with another female scientist in the hours-long testimony on 10 June. He also suggested that Epstein “contemplated blackmailing me” after learning of his affairs.The bombshell revelation has brought fresh interest in Bill Gates’ personal life. So just who else has he been romantically linked to?

Jill Bennett

Bill Gates has always been drawn to ambitious, intelligent women.

Before he met Melinda, he was romantically involved with Jill Bennett, a computer sales rep whom he met at a party in 1983 in Seattle’s Madison Park neighbourhood. Gates has described Bennett as his “first serious girlfriend”. They had many things in common. For starters, they were born in the same Seattle hospital a day apart. They loved tennis and computers.

“We even look a little alike,” Bennett told the Seattle Times earlier.

She bore a strong resemblance to Gates’ younger sister Libby. Gates and Bennett’s love story was nothing short of a romance, but set against a tech backdrop. They were just 27, and it was love at first sight.They dated for a couple of years, but Gates’ workaholic lifestyle got in the way. “He was always multitasking. His attention wasn’t 100 per cent on her. He was always thinking about all the other computer stuff,” James Wallace, author of the 1997 biography Overdrive: Bill Gates and the Race to Control Cyberspace, told The Post.

They stayed close as friends after the breakup.Bennett was later diagnosed with breast cancer and succumbed to the disease in 2004. In a tribute to his ex-girlfriend, Gates said, “She was a remarkable human being - gifted, dedicated and full of life. She fought her cancer as bravely as anyone I’ve ever known. She never gave in - she actually found strength in bringing attention to the issue and inspiring people to work towards a cure.”

Anna Winblad

Following Bennett came Ann Winblad, a computer programmer like himself. They started going out in 1984 after meeting at a computer conference, according to Time. What would you expect when two techies fall in love? Yes, they had “virtual dates”, where they would watch the same movie at the same time and then have conversations about it. Three years into the relationship, they called it quits in 1987. She was five years older than Gates and wanted to settle down.

Remarkably, their connection transcended romance. They continued being friends and even took a yearly trip to Gates’ Outer Banks home. “We share our thoughts about the world and ourselves,” Winblad, a software expert and venture capitalist, told the magazine in 1997. “And we marvel at how, as two young overachievers, we began a great adventure on the fringes of a little-known industry and it landed us at the centre of an amazing universe.”

Their friendship continued even when Gates met Melinda. Gates even asked for Winblad’s views before popping the question to Melinda in 1993. Gates and Melinda agreed on the arrangement that he would spend a long weekend every year at a cosy beach cottage in North Carolina. “We can play putt-putt while discussing biotechnology,” Gates told the magazine. Winblad later married Ann Kline, a private investigator.

Melinda French Gates

Bill Gates met Melinda in 1987, thanks to his company Microsoft, which brought her to New York City for a business meeting in her third week of employment as a multimedia product developer.

Melinda was invited to a dinner party where two chairs were open because Gates arrived late from another meeting. He sat down next to her. But their love story wasn’t exactly love at first sight. “When we first met, she had other boyfriends, and I had Microsoft,” Bill Gates said in the Netflix docuseries Inside Bill’s Brain: Decoding Bill Gates.

Melinda worked in the marketing department at the company and was shortly appointed general manager of information products.

Somewhere along the way, they grew fond of each other. “I think [Bill] wanted someone who had a lot of intellectual curiosity. They had a lot in common that they could talk about,” Wallace, Bill’s biographer, told The Post. Gates, who was close with his ex Winblad, asked her opinion. He even made a list of pros and cons before popping the question. Seven years later, in 1994, they exchanged wedding vows, becoming one of the world’s most powerful couples.

In 2021, after 27 years of marriage, the couple announced their divorce. “Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives. We continue to share a belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in the next phase of our lives," they said in a statement.

An affair with an unnamed Microsoft employee

After the divorce, Melinda spoke about the multiple 'betrayals' in her marriage. Following the divorce announcement, Gates revealed that he had an affair with an unnamed Microsoft employee during 2000, while still married to Melinda. “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 Microsoft spokesman said.

“There was an affair almost 20 years ago which ended amicably,” a spokeswoman for Gates admitted.In 2019, in an article published in the New York Times, she said her ex-husband had betrayed “not only our marriage but also my values”. Later in her memoir The Next Day: Transition, Change and Moving Forward, Melinda said that therapy had "made it possible for me to respond to the betrayals in my marriage without betraying myself in return.”

Paula Hurd

Following the divorce Bill Gates started seeing philanthropist Paula Hurd. In 2021, they were seen sitting a row apart from each other at a tennis tournament. A year later, they were clicked cozying up to each other in the stands. Hurd was married to Mark Hurd, a former CEO of Oracle and Hewlett-Packard with whom she shared two children, until his death in 2019. Gates and Hurd made their red carpet debut in April 2024 at the Breakthrough Prize Ceremony.

In February 2025 during an appearance on Today, Gates spoke about her publicly for the first time. "I’m lucky to have a serious girlfriend named Paula. We’re having fun. Going to the Olympics and lots of great things." While Gates' affairs during his marriage to Melinda French Gates cast a shadow over their 27-year union, he has since found companionship with Paula Hurd, marking a new chapter in a personal life long intertwined with his professional legacy.