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Odds on Who Bill Gates Will Date Next After Divorce From Melinda Gates

JJ De La Torre

by JJ De La Torre in Entertainment

Updated May 5, 2021 · 10:47 AM PDT

Bill Gates & Melinda Gates Divorce - Ann Winblad
Co-Chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Bill Gates gestures as he speaks to the audience during the Global Fund to Fight AIDS event at the Lyon's congress hall, central France. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP, File)
  • On May 3, philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates announced they would be getting a divorce
  • The couple were married for 27 years and together for a total of 34
  • Being single for the first time in over three decades, there’s speculation on who Bill will date next. See below for odds and best picks.

Nobody saw this one coming. On May 3, 2021, business magnate Bill Gates and philanthropist wife Melinda announced they’d be getting a divorce. This is truly the end of an era for one of the globe’s most renowned and powerful couples.

The Gates’ were married for 27 but together for a total of 34 years. Famously, the Seattle-based pair founded the joint venture The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This private $46.9 billion holding foundation is aimed to enhance healthcare and reduce global poverty.

While it seems Bill and Melinda will continue to work together, the romance between the two is allegedly over. “We no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives,” the pair wrote as part of a joint tweet announcing the split.

Bill Gates, with a net worth of over $130 billion, is now one of the most eligible bachelors in America. At 65, he’s the fourth richest man in the world.

Odds on Who Bill Gates Will Date Next

Person Odds
Ann Winblad +450
Julia Koch +2000
Feliz Sahenk +3000
Alice Walton +3000
Jennifer Aniston +3500
Teri Hatcher +3500
Sheryl Sandberg +3500
Elizabeth Holmes +4500
Angelina Jolie +4500
Drew Barrymore +4500
Jane Fonda +5000
Hillary Clinton +6000
Laura Coates +6000
Meghan Markle +7000
Shari Redstone +7000
Oprah Winfrey +12000

All odds as of May 5th

While Bill steps out on his own for the first time since 1987, the dating pool is certainly a lot different than all those years ago. So let’s take a look and see who sticks out from the list of odds.

The Winblad Connection

With the best odds of all, Ann Winblad is sitting pretty at +450. Wondering why? Winblad is close in proximity to Bill Gates in multiple ways. She’s five years his senior, so they come from the same generation. But more importantly, she’s already in Gates’ orbit.

Winblad, like Gates, has long been involved in business. She founded Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and was actually an early consultant to Gates’ company Microsoft. Most important to mention though is that Winblad and Gates dated before he got together with Melinda.

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In fact, all the years Bill and Melinda were together, Bill and Ann maintained a tradition from their dating years. Each year, Bill and Ann would vacation together at her beach cottage in North Carolina. They began this annual tradition in their decade-long relationship and have continued it ever since.

While it’s unclear if Ann and Bill’s ongoing friendship contributed to the Gates’ eventual split, it does seem likely they get together.

Looking at the Other Options

Winblad aside, the odds for Gates’ next fling are plentiful. But many of them don’t even make sense.

Some of the women on the list are presently in committed relationships. From Hillary Clinton to Oprah Winfrey to Meghan Markle, a lot of these big A-list names offer a lot of shock value but not much else.

As a long shot, Drew Barrymore is an interesting pick at +4500. While she’s certainly a lot younger than Gates, she would offer a fun new life for Gates. The bubbly television show host is a chance for Gates to steer more into the Hollywood life if he’s interested.

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Julia Koch is also a great bet at +2000. The widowed philanthropist lost her husband two years ago and maybe ready to get back out there. A Koch-Gates pairing makes sense in age as well as in mutual interest.

Out of all the odds, though, nothing makes more sense when Winblad. The pair are already vacationing together, why not just make it official once more?

Pick: Ann Winblad (+450)

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