Melinda French Gates was spotted with a friend by her side in New York City on Monday, just a month after she hinted that ex-husband Bill Gates had more than one affair during their 27-year marriage and that she had started dating after their public arranging divorce.
Photos from show French Gates, 57, walking off a private jet in the Big Apple wearing a Louis Vuitton scarf, along with a white jacket, black trousers and white sneakers.
Beside her, an unidentified man wearing a black vest, black pants, sunglasses and a plaid button-down shirt was carrying French Gates Louis Vuitton suitcases and a bag that said “Snacks.”
The man also wore a black backpack with a “thin blue line” on it and a ring on his left ring finger.
The two appeared to be having a fun conversation and she smiled after the helicopter landed.
Melinda French Gates, 57, (left) arrived in New York City by helicopter accompanied by an unidentified, bearded man
The two exited the helicopter together and shared a laugh before exiting the helipad. The man carried French Gates bags while she walked hands-free. He wore a ring on his left ring finger
The sighting comes a month after French Gates said in an interview that she dived into the dating world following her multi-billion dollar divorce from Microsoft founder Bill Gates
French Gates wore a Louis Vuitton scarf, white jacket, black pants and white sneakers. The helicopter crew was seen rolling a Louis Vuitton suitcase behind them
The photos come just a month after French Gates revealed she’s “definitely” ready to find love again and has already met several suitors.
“It’s interesting at this point,” she told CBS Morning’s Gayle King in an interview that aired March 3. “You know, I dip my toe in this water a little bit. I feel like I’m in a really good place. And I’m really excited about my life and the world – the work that lies ahead of me.”
She hinted in the interview that her ex-husband Bill Gates had more than one fling during their 27-year marriage.
“These are questions Bill needs to answer,” she said when asked about reports he’d cheated on multiple occasions. He had previously admitted to an affair.
“I believe in forgiveness. I thought we worked through some of it,” Melinda said of his affair with a Microsoft employee in 2000. I gave every single piece of myself to that marriage. I was committed from the day we got engaged to the day I got out of it.
However, French Gates said that while she and Bill are no longer friends, they remain “friendly” and continue to work together.
The ex-couple, who share three children (pictured), have not spoken publicly about the split, but Bill reportedly blamed himself in a confidential question-and-answer session in July
Bill Gates (second from right) at Jeffrey Epstein’s (centre) Upper East Side mansion, the scene of many of his crimes, in 2011 – after the pedophile spent time in prison for having sex with a minor
Bill, 66, has not publicly commented on the divorce.
French Gates also devastated Bill for his questionable friendship with pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, revealing he continued to date him despite having “nightmares” about him.
“I didn’t like that he had meetings with Jeffrey Epstein. I made that clear to him. I also met Jeffrey Epstein exactly once. I wanted to see who this man was and I regretted it from the second I walked in the door.’
“He was hideous, evil personified. I had nightmares about it afterwards. That’s why my heart breaks for these young women. That’s how I felt, and I’m an older woman. He was terrible.’
She told Gayle King that Bill had to be responsible for the many times he met Epstein and even suggested it contributed to the divorce.
Melinda Gates in her CBS interview in March. She lifted the lid on her marriage to Bill Gates for the first time and opened up about how trust in their relationship was broken by his affair in 2000
Bill and Melinda Gates are pictured at the wedding of their daughter Jennifer in North Salem, New York in October
“It wasn’t one thing, it was many things [that led to the divorce]. Any remaining questions about how Bill’s relationship with him was…these are for Bill to answer. I made it very clear how I feel about him.’
Melinda, who shocked the world when she and Bill announced they were ending their 27-year marriage in May 2021, previously opened up about how she went through emotionally challenging times while working with the billionaire.
The couple’s divorce was finalized privately in Washington — the home of their Gates Foundation — in August.
The terms were never made public, but Bill was worth around $152 billion at the time, earning Melinda a 50 percent settlement of $76 billion. That doesn’t include the couple’s massive real estate portfolio, which consisted of homes in New York, Washington and California.