By Abigail Pesta
7:00AM GMT 25 Nov 2013
As the wife of Bill Gates, Microsoft founder and the richest man on the planet, Melinda Gates could have opted for a life of indulgence. But that would have been far too easy. Abigail Pesta meets her
It’s a hot September afternoon in Manhattan and Melinda Gates is on the move. The wife of the richest man in the world swoops into the Four Seasons hotel , talking fast. The city is buzzing – world leaders are in town for the United Nations General Assembly, Barack Obama among them. Gates is fresh off a panel discussion with Hillary Clinton on a favourite topic: improving life for women .
A day ago she was busy launching a global health investment fund. Oh, and she’s starring in a new comic book too. “That’s one of those things you kind of learn about as it’s happening,” she says with a laugh.
The comic book, part of a power-women series published by Bluewater Productions, may have come as a surprise but her life is generally planned to the max. As the co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, her world is a whirl of travel and strategy sessions.
Even television-watching at her home near Seattle is planned – no time for aimless channel-surfing. “We really don’t watch TV ; we like DVDs,” says the 49-year-old mother of three, sitting in a quiet corner of the hotel in a brown suit and gold earrings, her long hair down. “We love movies. When we go on a trip, we don’t just rely on the hotel movies; we actually take a bag of DVDs with us.”
Her job is to figure out how to give away billions of dollars. The foundation has awarded $27.6 billion in grants since its start in 2000, focusing primarily on global health, poverty and education – combating malaria and HIV, designing better c*ndoms and building better lavatories.
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