Bill Gates can’t help but gush over his relationship with girlfriend Paula Hurd.
“I’m lucky to have a serious girlfriend named Paula,” Gates, 69, said on the Tuesday, February 4, episode of the Today show. “We’re having fun. Going to the Olympics and lots of great things.”
The couple sparked romance rumors in 2023, two years after his separation from ex-wife Melinda Gates. Paula, who was previously married to late Oracle CEO Mark Hurd, made her red carpet debut with Bill in April 2024 at the Breakthrough Prize Ceremony.
In a January interview with The Times of London, Bill called his divorce from Melinda, 60, the “mistake” he most has “regret” for — but went on to clarify the comments on Tuesday.
Bill Gates Says Divorcing Ex-Wife Melinda Was ‘The Mistake I Most Regret’
“My business career, although there’s been some ups and downs, has been incredibly phenomenal. My kids are phenomenal. So it’s even hard for me to complain about things,” Bill said. “I’ve moved past the divorce, and Melinda’s doing well. I’ve got a lot of work that I love to do. So I’m not really complaining about anything.”
When asked by coanchor Savannah Guthrie whether he would “wave a magic wand [and] it wouldn’t have happened,” Bill replied, “No, I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Even despite the fact that the divorce wasn’t great, having those three kids, the work we were able to do together — even if I knew that it wouldn’t last forever, I would still do it again,” he added.
Bill and Melinda confirmed their split in May 2021 after 27 years of marriage. The pair share daughters Jennifer, 28, and Phoebe, 22, and son Rory, 25, and are also grandparents to Jennifer’s daughters, Leila, 23 months, and Mia, 3 months.
Bill Gates and Melinda Gates’ Former Marriage in Their Own Words
“You never want to push kids to do the same thing that you did,” Bill said, to which Guthrie, 53, added, “Especially when they’re 10 months old.”
“Yeah. The oldest is turning 2 next week, so I got some nice fluffy dolls,” Bill continued. “I’ll try and be a good grandfather, read some books like my grandparents did.”
Bill and Melinda met in 1987 when she began working for his Microsoft corporation. After the pair tied the knot, the twosome founded a joint nonprofit. Melinda has since left the organization after the pair’s divorce. Now, the pair are navigating coparenting their adult children.
“Melinda and I still see each other — we have three kids and two grandchildren so there are family events,” Bill told The Times of London in January. “The kids are doing well. They have good values.”
