Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, is rumoured to be dating Paula Hurd. Paula is the widow of Mark Hurd, the former CEO of Oracle. Following a 30-year marriage, Bill and Melinda Gates divorced in May 2021. Bill Gates and she were seen together at the Australian Open in Melbourne last month and while out and about in the city.
According to a People story, Paula Hurd and Bill Gates have reportedly been dating for more than a year. Paula Hurd and Bill Gates are reportedly dating; although she has yet to see his children, a source informed the publication.
Paula was married to the late Mark Hurd, the co-CEO of Oracle, until his passing in October 2019 at 62, reportedly from cancer. He married Paula in 1990, and they had two daughters, Kathryn and Kelly.
Mark’s second wife was Paula. From 1980 to 1987, he was married to Elizabeth A. Butler. From 2005 to 2010, Mark served as the CEO of the computer and printer manufacturer Hewlett-Packard. However, due to a sexual harassment incident, he resigned and, one month later, joined Oracle. He reportedly had a $500 million net worth at the time of his death. Paula and Gates may have been friends because they both have technical backgrounds. She previously held a position as a tech executive with NCR Global, a provider of online banking software.
Paula Hurd spent 17 years in the corporation.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she spent 17 years in the corporation. She held several leadership positions in sales and services before departing in 2001. Paula is a philanthropist and event organiser at the moment. Paula switched to event organising and philanthropy after quitting her job in technology. She identifies as a “Developer and organiser of memorable mid- and large-scale event experiences for personal, corporate and charitable occasions,” according to her LinkedIn profile.
Paula has a long-standing passion for tennis, much like Bill Gates. She used to go to many tennis tournaments with her late spouse. She even ran into Gates in 2015 while watching a game in California from the same box.
Since beginning to date Gates, the two have been spotted bonding over the game. Last month, Paula and Gates sat together to watch the Men’s Singles Final at the Australian Open. Even though things between the two seem serious, Paula still needs to meet Gates’ three children from his marriage to Melinda. Although their connection is well-known, Paula Hurd still needs to meet Bill Gates’ children; a source informed People in February. Son Rory, daughters Jennifer and Phoebe, and Bill are Melinda’s children. Nevertheless, a February source told the Daily Mail that Paula and Bill are becoming increasingly close, adding, “They’re inseparable.”
Hurd is also a philanthropist.
The 60-year-old event planner and tennis enthusiast Ms Hurd is also a philanthropist. According to her LinkedIn page, she plans business, social, and charitable events. She’s also had experience as a tech executive. In 1984, she earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin. For 17 years, she held several leadership positions in sales and services with the US-based software giant NCR Corporation.
Ms Hurd serves on the board of governors of Mark Hurd’s alma school, Baylor University in Texas. The university’s official governing body is the board. She has given the Baylor Basketball Pavilion a $7 million donation.
Paula and her husband, who had two daughters and resided in San Mateo County, had been ardent supporters of her husband’s alma mater, Baylor University, for a long time. They contributed significantly to the university’s $1.1 billion philanthropy initiative. The initiative helped finance a brand-new $60 million welcome centre unveiled later this year and be named after the couple.
Paula Hurd went to the University of Texas at Austin.
Paula obtained her marketing degree from the University of Texas at Austin, but she carried on her husband’s legacy by helping Baylor, particularly the school’s tennis programme, which won national titles.
Last year, she started a new programme to give young, aspiring tennis players $100,000 prizes during the BNP Paribas Open. Four days after the program’s announcement on March 14, Paula and Bill Gates were sighted in Indian Wells, California, watching a Women’s Tennis Association semifinal match.
According to a friend of the couple, Paula Hurd, 60, and Bill Gates, 67, have been dating for more than a year, according to Daily Mail article. Following the end of his 27-year marriage to Melinda French Gates in 2021, Bill Gates began dating Paula Hurd two years later. Given the prominence of Gates and Hurd in Silicon Valley, it is not surprising that their paths have occasionally crossed throughout time.
Hurd and Gate were spotted at the Australian Open in Melbourne last month
They were spotted together watching the Men’s Singles Final at the Australian Open in Melbourne last month. They also travelled to Sydney, where Gates met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and enjoyed a romantic stroll across the city while taking in the sights of the Opera House and harbour. Hurd was not identified at the time the images were published.
The two have been sighted together at several sporting events. The events included the Australian Open, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, and the 2022 Laver Cup at the O2 Arena in London. This suggests that the couple met through their shared passion for tennis. Although Hurd accompanied Gates to Sydney last month, where the Microsoft co-founder met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, the couple has been dating for a year and has kept their romance mainly private.
Hurd’s name was unknown at the time of the shot of Gates and Hurd in front of the city’s iconic Opera House. In their visit coverage, several news organisations called her the “mystery woman.”
“They’ve been together over a year, and she’s always described as a ‘mystery woman,’ but it’s no mystery to their inner circle that they’re in a romantic relationship,” the couple’s anonymous friend was quoted as saying by Daily Mail.
Two years after Bill Gates and his ex-wife Melinda French Gates officially divorced, news of their romance broke. After 27 years of marriage, the former couple announced their separation in May 2021. They divorced in August of that same year.
As previously reported, Melinda Gates is reportedly seeing the former television reporter Jon Du Pre. On the other hand, Mark Hurd, Paula Hurd’s ex-husband, passed away from cancer in 2019. She is now a philanthropist, event planner, and organiser.