Good morning! Bumble makes new hires before a tough earnings, Penny Pritzker gets swept up in Harvard-Trump drama, and Fortune’s Alexa Mikhail talks to Melinda French Gates about gigantic news from the Gates Foundation.
– 20-year plan. For the last several months, I’ve been working alongside Fortune Senior Editor at Large Geoff Colvin on a feature package about the 25th anniversary of the Gates Foundation. We exclusively reported this morning that the foundation, which spent $100 billion in its first 25 years, will double its spending to $200 billion in the next 20 years to fight the world’s deadliest diseases, reduce maternal and child deaths, and ease poverty. After which, the foundation will spend its last dollar and shut its doors in 2045—an unprecedented move in the world of philanthropy.
To understand the sweeping implications of this decision, Colvin and I interviewed both Gateses, alongside over 30 researchers, grantees, and outside experts. I was also able to visit Gates-funded efforts in South Africa, bearing witness to programs on the ground in townships outside of Johannesburg and Cape Town that investigate the causes of five million children dying before their fifth birthday, deliver HIV prevention to young adults, and enroll participants in a Phase III trial with what could be the world’s first new tuberculosis vaccine in 100 years.
Melinda French Gates has played a pivotal role in global health since the turn of the century, when she cofounded and served as co-chair of the then-Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for over two decades before stepping down in 2024 following her divorce from Bill Gates.
“It’s kind of unbelievable to think about the progress that has been made,” French Gates told me in her offices in Kirkland, Wash., in February, as she reflected upon the foundation’s 25th anniversary. In her role, French Gates traveled across the world to learn about the needs of children and families. She has since championed getting vaccines to children in low and middle-income countries, spoken on the world stage about how family planning and contraceptives are the most important poverty reducers, and taken philanthropic advice from Warren Buffett, who contributed a large portion of his wealth to the foundation.
Now, on the outside looking in, she told Fortune that she supports the foundation’s massive $200 billion announcement.
“I think it’s a fantastic decision,” she said, noting that the plan was always that the “vast majority of those resources were to go back to society.” This commitment comes as reports find investments in Africa from the U.S. for gender-associated funds are struggling as a result of President Trump’s rhetoric on DEI.
As for her current work, French Gates is more eager than ever to “set more of an agenda here in the United States.” Gates launched Pivotal Ventures in 2015 to focus on gender equality in the U.S., and is putting all of her resources into it. She recently published a memoir, where she discussed that work as well as her divorce.
“I have seen the rollbacks in this country, and I know that only 2% of philanthropy goes to organizations that work on gender,” she said. “This is the time for me to step in…I can more easily and more flexibly use every tool in my toolbox.”
Last year, French Gates made a $1 billion commitment to support organizations and individuals elevating gender equality and helping women step into their power. “I don’t know, there’s something about turning 60. My mom says you get even more opinionated, maybe because you have less time,” she said, laughing.
And what is she more opinionated about?
“I want this world to be better in the United States for my granddaughter than it is today. And right now, she has less rights than I had growing up, and that just shouldn’t be,” she said. “I am absolutely doing grant making internationally, but the majority will be in the United States.”
What’s more, French Gates has a message to the world’s wealthiest about the necessity—and moral imperative—of giving back.
“If you’re a billionaire in the United States, you benefited from this country. You benefited from good roads. You probably benefited somewhere along the way from the health sector,” she said. “People in other places don’t have those things, and so yes, we owe something back to society, and there are lots of ways to do it.”
Read my full interview with Melinda French Gates here and read the full story on the future of the Gates Foundation here.
Alexa Mikhail
alexa.mikhail@fortune.com
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ALSO IN THE HEADLINES
- From groceries to AI. Instacart CEO Fidji Simo is leaving the grocery delivery service to serve as OpenAI’s “CEO of Applications,” where she will report to Sam Altman. Simo has served on OpenAI's nonprofit board; before she got to Instacart, where she expanded its push into advertising revenue, she was a longtime exec at Meta. Fortune
- New team. Whitney Wolfe Herd’s Bumble announced three leadership hires yesterday—including Julie Radford, the former chief of staff to Ivanka Trump who was interviewed as part of the House investigation into the Jan. 6 attacks, to lead communications. The struggling dating app business also named Deirdre Runnette chief legal officer. Fortune
- Race closed. Republican Jefferson Griffin officially conceded the election for a North Carolina Supreme Court seat to Justice Allison Riggs after a six-month effort to overturn her November victory. Riggs was appointed to the seat in 2023 and only won the race by 734 votes. CNN
- Pritzker in the middle. Billionaire, former U.S. Commerce Secretary, and Harvard senior fellow Penny Pritzker finds herself in the middle of a legal dispute between Harvard and the Trump administration, which claims the Ivy League school failed to address antisemitism. Billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman and Education Secretary Linda McMahon both publicly attacked her in separate incidents this week. Wall Street Journal
- Chip caution. AMD CEO Lisa Su cited a balance between “export controls for national security as well as ensuring that we get the widest possible adoption of our technology” during an appearance on CNBC where she warned against the U.S. placing strict rules on exporting semiconductors. The statement comes just a day after AMD (No. 181 on the Fortune 500) beat Wall Street expectations for Q1 earnings. CNBC
MOVERS AND SHAKERS
Wealthfront named Michelle Wilson to its board of directors. Wilson also serves on the board of Cockroach Labs.
Frontline Group promoted Brandey Lorensen to president chief operating officer. She previously served solely as president.
RYNO Strategic Solutions appointed cofounder Anna Yano as president.
ON MY RADAR
Amelia Dimoldenberg is ready for a serious (media) commitment Adweek
The collapse of feminism The Atlantic
$750 million to be paid to women who were sexually abused by doctor New York Times
PARTING WORDS
“You have to know your strengths and believe you are embarking on a strategy where you have the right to win."
— Tubi CEO Anjali Sud on how she became on of the youngest CEOs in the media industry
