Bill Gates' Family
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Bill’s family was started many years ago when he was thirty seven and met Melinda French when she was twenty eight at a Microsoft press event located in Manhattan. She was employed by Microsoft at the time and later became an executive. She is a Catholic woman from Dallas, Texas who studied at Duke and majored in computer science. It has been said by Walter Issacson in his story about Gates that "like Gates, she is smart and independent. Like his mother, she is also friendly and social, with an easy manner of organizing trips and activities. But she zealously guards her privacy and doesn't give interviews.” It became apparent to his family soon after they met Melinda that Bill was very interested in her. She and Gates were married after dating for some time on January 1st of 1994 in Hawaii. The wedding is shown in the video below. Melinda quit work at Microsoft after this at the age of thirty two after then took on more work with charity and the board at Duke. They took time to travel around the world together before settling down and having their first child a daughter Jennifer Katherine, born on April 26th, 1996. Gates said about the baby girl shortly after she was born, "I used to think I wouldn't be all that interested in the baby until she was two or so and could talk, but I'm totally into it now. She's just started to say 'ba-ba' and have a personality." (Issacson) She was a little red head with brown eyes and Bill quickly took to her. They are shown in the picture below.
Bill and Jennifer
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His love for Jennifer truly changed him and He went on to have two more children Rory John born in 1999 and Phoebe Adele born in 2002. Click here to see a family photo With the addition of his children Gates slowly began to take on less of a role at Microsoft and a larger role at their home. A 66,000 sq ft estate with a 60-foot swimming pool equipped with an underwater music system, as well as a 2,500 sq ft gym and a 1,000 sq ft dining room.The house is also said to have other perks such as knowing which family member enters each room (by use of a pin you wear) and changing the temperature, music and television to fit what that person likes best. The home is located in Medina overlooking lake Washington. The total value of the property is said to be somewhere close to 125 million dollars! There is a picture below
Gates' Home
In recent years Gates has been focusing more and more on the Bill and Melinda gates foundation. They support efforts such as better education in America and getting vaccinations for children in third world countries. More can be read about what Bill and Melinda do through the foundation on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation page on the site. Gates also decided to announce he will be taking a non operating role at Microsoft in July of 2008 at only 52 years old. He will use the free time found by doing this to spend more time on his philanthropy as well as on his family. (Schlender) He now has free time to spend with his kids, time he uses to help them with school, take them on field trips or even just be able to pick them up from school. It also gives him more time to spend with his wife, they now have friends over during the week or work together to help the foundation grow. He has also been working on scientific efforts that he posts on his personal website. You can even follow him on twitter. Though he has stepped away from an operating role at Microsoft that does not mean he will not still be very involved in the business. He will still hold official title of co-chair, along with his wife and father, but his real role will be as the organization's chief strategic thinker. (Schlender) He will still be majorly involved in keeping the company moving forward as well as remaining their largest stock holder, while trying to focus more time on his kids while they are young.
