After Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates divorced in 2021, the Microsoft co-founder began dating Paula Hurd.
“I’m lucky to have a serious girlfriend named Paula,” he said in February 2025. “We’re having fun. Going to the Olympics and lots of great things.” The two were first spotted together in 2022, and made their red carpet debut in 2024. Now, Paula has joined Gates at the wedding of Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez in Venice, putting her in the spotlight.
Here, get to know Bill Gates’s girlfriend:
Paula was born Paula Kalupa.
Bill and Paula in New York City, May 2025.
In 1984, she graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. She worked for NCR Corporation for about two decades in a variety of sales and leadership positions.
She is a widow.
Paula was married to former Oracle CEO Mark Hurd, who also worked at NCR. They marred in 1990 and were together until his death in 2019. They have two daughters, Kathryn and Kelly. Kathryn works as an investigative journalist, with bylines in ProPublica, the Los Angeles Times, and PBS Frontline. Kelly previously worked at Visa; she is married to Tommy Umberg, son of California State Senator Tom Umberg.
Paula is a philanthropist.
According to her official bio on Baylor University’s Board of Regent, Paula “is a longtime community volunteer and philanthropist from Silicon Valley who has a passion for supporting educational and healthcare initiatives in her community as well as at Baylor University, the beloved alma mater of her late husband, Mark (BBA ’79).”
The bio continues, “For the past 20 years, Mrs. Hurd has spearheaded fundraising efforts for numerous local nonprofit organizations. She is a chairperson for Universal Tennis Foundation, for which she sponsors the annual Hurd Tennis Awards to support college players as they transition into pro tennis. Every year, Mrs. Hurd enthusiastically opens her California home to welcome and host current and future members of the Baylor community.”
In November 2018, the Hurds “gave one of the largest gifts in Baylor’s history” to build the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center. “Our family is absolutely thrilled with the Hurd Welcome Center,” Paula said when it opened. “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. I know he would be proud of not only what has been built but the way in which others in the Baylor Family rallied around the Give Light Campaign to generate more than $1.39 billion in gifts to support the University he loved.”
She is a sports fan.
Bill and Paula at the Paris Olympics.
As “avid tennis fans,” Paula and Mark supported the creation of Baylor’s tennis facility, named the Hurd Tennis Center in 2011. Recently, Paula also donated $7 million to the new Baylor Basketball Pavilion, which will be recognized as the Mark and Paula Hurd Floor at the Baylor Basketball Pavilion.
She and Bill made their first public appearance as a couple in 2022.
The two first made a public appearance at the Laver Cup, a tennis exhibition, in London in September 2022.
Bill and Paula at the 2022 Laver Cup.
Nearly two years later, they made their first red carpet appearance at the 10th Annual Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
The couple in 2024.
Bill thanked Paula in his memoir Source Code.
“Early readers of the manuscript included Paula Hurd, Marc St. John, and Sheila Gulati. The close read from dear and trusted friends provided much-needed thoughtful and insightful feedback at critical stages in the writing,” he wrote in the acknowledgements.
Emily Burack (she/her) is the Senior News Editor for Town & Country, where she covers entertainment, celebrities, the royals, and a wide range of other topics. Before joining T&C, she was the deputy managing editor at Hey Alma, a Jewish culture site. Follow her @emburack on Twitter and Instagram.
