Melinda Gates’ Helicopter Date with New Man Blows Up the Internet as Fans Discover He’s Former Bill Gates Employee
Bill Gates‘ ex-wife Melinda Gates has found love again.
The philanthropist, who had been married to the billionaire for 27 years before filing for divorce in 2021, recently stepped out in New York City with her new beau, Philip Vaughn. The two reportedly were spotted smiling and holding hands while hopping off of a helicopter before getting into their SUV. They both wore dark colored pants and shirts.
Page Six shared images of the couple on the outlet’s social media pages, where fans reacted to the news with support for Melinda’s new relationship.
One person said, “Happy for her. She’s philanthropic, great mom, bright and deserves the best!” Another person wrote, “Good for her. I pray she finds real love.”
A few people seemed to suggest that Vaughn looked like the popular American fashion designer Michael Kors.
One person said, “From a distance he looks like Micheal Kors.” And another wrote, “A young Michael Kors lookalike?”
Two others said, “Better looking than Bill” and “Good 4 her, guaranteed Bill is miserable.”
A third added, “She can afford any man with her money.”
Vaughn is an entrepreneur who — according to his LinkedIn — worked at Melinda’s ex-husband’s company, Microsoft, for nearly nine years. He started in 1999 as a senior consultant before moving into the role of program manager less than two years later.
I heard Melinda Gates don get boyfriend and he’s a former staff of Microsoft 🤣
— Mohammed Jammal (@whitenigerian) October 30, 2024
By 2005, he became the group program manager at the company, which was his final position before leaving in 2008. Currently, Vaughn works as the founder and executive chairman of Tavour, an app that provides craft beer delivery services. He’ll reach 12 years in that role in January.
It’s not clear how long Melinda and Vaughn have been an item. In April, the 60-year-old’s reps shut down rumors that she was engaged and simultaneously confirmed the ending of her relationship to Fox News reporter Jon Du Pre which began in 2022.
Bill Gates Former wife, Melinda French Gates is dating a former TV reporter, Jon Du Pre and they have been dating for a few months
Bill and Melinda Gates got divorced in August 2021 after 27 years of marriage pic.twitter.com/NQ3vvAV6Rd
— Naija (@Naija_PR) November 9, 2022
Melinda and Bill got married in 1994 and together they share two daughters and a son. Despite their marriage being revered by some, revelations about several incidents have come to light, making the couple’s union seem less perfect than some may have imagined.
In 1997 a Time article revealed that Melinda had an agreement set up with Bill which allowed him to spend one long weekend getaway annually with his ex, Ann Winblad.
Then in 2019, it was revealed that Bill had initiated an intimate relationship and had an affair with a Microsoft employee over the years dating back to 2000.
In a 2022 sit down with “CBS Mornings” host Gayle King, Melinda opened up about the affair saying, “I certainly believe in forgiveness, so I thought we had worked through some of that. It wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened. There just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realized it just wasn’t healthy and I couldn’t trust what we had.”
But that’s not all. Melinda also felt uncomfortable with the multiple meetings Bill took with the late financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “I did not like that he’d had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein,” she said, “I made it very clear how I felt about him.”
The year prior, Bill said taking meetings with Epstein was “a huge mistake,” during his interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360.
He said, “I had several dinners with him hoping that what he said about getting billions of philanthropy for global health through contacts that he had might emerge. When it looked like that wasn’t a real thing, that relationship ended.”
After the announcement of their divorce, it was revealed that Bill and Melinda would continue to run Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation together, but Melinda resigned from her role as co-chair earlier this year in June.
Since the divorce, she has donated over $124 million of the billions she received in her divorce settlement to historically Black colleges and universities.
Just like his former wife, Bill has also moved on to explore another relationship. He is currently dating Paula Hurd, widow of late Oracle co-CEO Mark Hurd, for the past two years.
