Microsoft cofounder Invoice Gates and philanthropist Paula Hurd sat one row other than one another at a tennis event in 2021. The next yr, they had been photographed cozying up to one another within the stands.
Gates and Hurd have gone public with their relationship since they had been first noticed collectively, strolling crimson carpets and attending sporting occasions just like the 2024 Olympics.
Each had been beforehand married. Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage and share three youngsters. Hurd was married to Mark Hurd, a former CEO of Oracle and Hewlett-Packard with whom she shared two youngsters, till his loss of life in 2019.
Gates, whose web price is estimated at $109.6 billion, has known as Hurd his “critical girlfriend.” Here is a timeline of their relationship.
Gates Ventures declined to remark when reached by Enterprise Insider.
October 2021: Gates and Hurd, each avid tennis followers, ran in comparable circles earlier than they began courting.
Mark J. Terrill/AP
On the BNP Paribas Open tennis event in 2021, Gates was seated one row in entrance of Hurd subsequent to his ex-girlfriend, Ann Winblad.
March 2022: Hurd and Gates appeared cozy on the Indian Wells tennis event in California.
FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP through Getty Photographs
Hurd and Gates attended a number of video games of the event in Indian Wells, California, and appeared to lean into one another within the stands of a match between Paula Badosa of Spain and Maria Sakkari of Greece.
September 2022: Gates and Hurd had been noticed collectively once more on the Laver Cup tennis event in London.
Glyn KIRK/AFP through Getty Photographs
Gates and Hurd are each deeply concerned in tennis. Gates has performed in charity matches with execs resembling Roger Federer, and Hurd chairs the Common Tennis Basis, which helps faculty gamers transition into skilled athletes and helps youth and wheelchair tennis packages.
January 2023: They attended the Australian Open in Melbourne.
DAVID GRAY/AFP through Getty Photographs
Gates and Hurd sat within the entrance row of the boys’s singles ultimate match between Novak Djokovic of Serbia and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece.
February 2023: The Every day Mail reported that the 2 had been in a relationship.
Matthew Stockman/Getty Photographs
Citing nameless sources, the Every day Mail reported that Gates and Hurd had been courting and had been noticed sightseeing collectively in Sydney in January.
The Every day Mail additionally reported that Hurd and her late husband had been seated behind Gates on the BNP Paribas Open way back to 2015.
April 2024: Gates and Hurd walked the crimson carpet collectively on the Breakthrough Prize Ceremony.
Anna Webber/Selection through Getty Photographs
Gates and Hurd posed for photographs collectively on the 2024 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony, nicknamed the “Oscars of science” for its recognition of scientific achievements.
July 2024: Hurd accompanied Gates to the Allen & Co. Solar Valley Media and Expertise Convention in Solar Valley, Idaho.
Brendan McDermid/Reuters
The convention is called a “billionaire summer time camp” the place high tech leaders and traders resembling Tim Cook dinner, Mark Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffett attend trade periods, play golf, and shut offers.
August 2024: They watched gymnastics on the Paris Olympics.
Jean Catuffe/Getty Photographs
Hurd and Gates attended the ladies’s gymnastics ultimate and workforce ultimate occasions. They had been joined by Gates’ daughter, Jennifer Gates, and her husband, Nayel Nassar, an equestrian who competed for Crew Egypt on the similar Olympics.
February 2025: Gates thanked Hurd within the acknowledgements of his memoir, “Supply Code,” and confirmed that they had been courting.
NBC/Todd Owyoung/NBC through Getty Photographs
Gates’ memoir, “Supply Code,” chronicles his upbringing and the early days of Microsoft.
Within the acknowledgements of “Supply Code,” Gates talked about Hurd as one of many “expensive and trusted pals” who “supplied much-needed considerate and insightful suggestions at important levels within the writing” of his ebook.
In an look on “The At present Present” selling his memoir, Gates mentioned that he was “fortunate to have a critical girlfriend named Paula.”
“We’re having enjoyable, going to the Olympics and many nice issues,” he mentioned.
April 2025: They walked the crimson carpet on the Breakthrough Prize Ceremony as soon as once more.
Craig T Fruchtman/Getty Photographs
Gates and Hurd attended the star-studded ceremony on the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California.
