Who Is Bill Gates' Girlfriend? Meet Paula Hurd

In 2021, tech billionaire and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates officially split from wife Melinda French Gates after 27 years of marriage. While the news seemed to catch the general public by surprise, Bill and Melinda's divorce had apparently been long in the works by time the couple went public with their decision. After the split, Bill made it clear that he had no regrets about marrying Melinda. However, he also didn't waste much time moving on. In 2023, it came to light that Gates was dating a woman named Paula Hurd, with a source telling People at the time that their romance was already common knowledge among their associates. On that note, the two had been spotted in public together on a number of occasions before the other shoe dropped. But just who is Bill Gates' girlfriend Paula Hurd?

As it turns out, Paula is no stranger to being in a relationship with a prominent computer executive who happens to be a divorcé. In fact, her surname comes from her first husband, former HP chief Mark Hurd, who had himself been married once before. Paula and Mark wed in 1990, four years before Bill and Melinda Gates hit the same relationship milestone. But while Bill and Melinda agreed to part ways, Paula was sadly widowed when Mark passed away in 2019. Mark had been co-CEO of the software company Oracle at the time of his death. In addition to Paula herself, Mark was survived by the pair's two daughters.

When you look into the life of Bill Gates, you don't exactly have to dig too deep to find his long history of philanthropy. And as it turns out, his girlfriend Paula Hurd appears to have similar priorities. Paula seems particularly interested in giving back to her late husband Mark Hurd's alma mater of Baylor University in Waco, Texas. (Paula herself attended the University of Texas at Austin, about 100 miles away down I-35). According to Business Insider, Paula and Mark made several donations to the school over the course of their marriage. This included putting up most of the money for Baylor's new welcome center, which opened in 2023 — four years after Mark's death — and was named in the couple's honor.

"When we made this gift, Mark had a vision for how a welcome experience could transform this corner of campus, and the outcome has by far exceeded our expectations and dreams," Paula said at the ribbon cutting ceremony (via Baylor), adding, "I know he would be proud." During the ceremony, university president Linda Livingstone also took the time to express her gratitude towards Paula and her late husband. "If it weren't for the vision of Mark and Paula Hurd and their generosity, we would not be here today ... their passion for Baylor and the significant support they have provided have changed the face of the campus through facilities like the Hurd Welcome Center," Livingstone said.