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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Bill Gates has finally confirmed his new romance with his ‘serious girlfriend’ just weeks after he revealed that his divorce from ex-wife Melinda French Gates was his worst mistake ever.

Recall that the former tech power couple tied the knot in 1994, welcomed three kids into the world, and then divorced in May 2021 after 27 years of marriage.

Since then, 69-year-old Bill has been spotted several times throughout the last few years with 62-year-old Paula Hurd, the widow of former Oracle CEO, Mark Hurd.

But it wasn’t until Tuesday that the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft got candid about his love life during an appearance on The Today Show.

‘I’m lucky to have a serious girlfriend named Paula,’ he said. ‘So we’re having fun, going to the Olympics and lots of great things.’

‘I’m more cheerful now,’ Bill said during an interview with British newspaper The Times in December. ‘That was the mistake I most regret

The billionaire also spoke of his ex-wife’s resignation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation last year – one of the largest charitable institutions in the world – and how he didn’t only lose his partner, but their joint book club, his meditation buddy and walking partner.

‘You would have to put that at the top of the list,’ Bill told The Times. ‘There are others but none that matter. The divorce thing was miserable for me and Melinda for at least two years.’

Hurd, who bears a striking resemblance to Melinda, is the widow of former Oracle co-CEO and president Mark Hurd, who died at the age of 62 in 2019 after a reported battle with cancer.

Once a tech executive herself, Hurd is now an event planner organizer, and philanthropist.

Her late husband, who spent most of his career at tech company NCR and later Hewlett-Packard before joining Oracle in 2010, had an estimated net worth of $ 500 million at the time of his death.

Although there was growing speculation into the pair’s blossoming connection, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed in 2023 that Bill had found love again two years after his divorce from his wife of 27 years.

In January of 2023, Bill was spotted in Australia with Hurd, who was a mystery woman then.

Together, the pair were captured checking out the sights of Sydney outside of the city’s famed Opera House.

The two appeared to be taking a stroll around the city as they stopped to admire the panoramic views of the harbor.

It’s no surprise that the paths of the Microsoft founder and Oracle executive – both prominent Silicon Valley figures – and his wife had crossed over the years.

Since then, the love birds have been photographed together at the 2024, Olympics, a Baylor University basketball game, and on the red carpet.

The pair were also pictured at last year’s so-called billionaire’s summer camp in Sun Valley, Idaho, where they were joined by fellow power couple Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez.

While Bill seems to be in the happy honeymoon stage, he admitted that he wouldn’t change a thing about the past, explaining how his marriage to Melinda kept him grounded, The Times reported.

‘There is a certain wonderfulness to spending your entire adult life with one person because of the memories and depth of things you have done and having kids together,’ he told the outlet.

‘When Melinda and I met, I was fairly successful but not ridiculously successful – that came during the time that we were together. So, she saw me through a lot.’

Although he called the divorce ‘tough’ while adding how he was ‘disappointed’ when Melinda left the foundation to pursue other philanthropic opportunities, he said how the pair still see each other and make time for their kids and two grandchildren together.

The Microsoft co-founder spoke to NBC morning news show about his previous comments – specifically calling his divorce his ‘biggest regret’ – where he clarified that he wasn’t saying he wished the split with Melinda would have happened, USA Today reported.

‘Although the divorce wasn’t great, having those three kids, the work we were able to do together – even if I knew that it wouldn’t last forever, I would still do it again,’ he said.

My business career, though, there’s been some ups and downs, has been incredibly phenomenal,’ he added. ‘My kids are phenomenal. So it’s even hard for me to complain about things.’

‘I’ve moved past the divorce, and Melinda’s doing well. I’ve got a lot of work that I love to do. So I’m not really complaining about anything.’

Melinda has also previously opened up about their ‘unbelievably painful’ divorce and explained that she ‘just couldn’t stay in that marriage anymore.’

The philanthropist told Fortune magazine in October of 2024 that the Covid-19 pandemic helped give her the ‘privacy to do what she needed to do.’

She also said in 2021 that her husband’s affair with a Microsoft employee in 2000 had broken the ‘trust’ in their marriage.

‘Well, I certainly believe in forgiveness, so I thought we had worked through some of that,’ Melinda told the Wall Street Journal when asked about the alleged infidelity.

‘It wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened,’ she added.

‘There just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realized it just wasn’t healthy, and I couldn’t trust what we had.’

Intermixed with Gates’ extramarital liaisons is scrutiny around his relationship with Epstein, the pedophile financier who took his own life in 2019 while jailed on charges of sex trafficking minors.

Bill insisted that the pair never had ‘any business relationship or friendship’ and their meetings were solely to discuss philanthropic ventures.

But Melinda said her ex-husband’s closeness to the predator put considerable strain on the marriage.

The Gates’ divorce settlement is America’s second-most expensive ever after Bezos’ $38.3billion split with ex-wife MacKenzie Bezos.

Although Bill and Hurd’s relationship is now public and, of course, ‘serious’, Melinda has also reportedly found a new man.

Melinda shockingly revealed her relationship with tech mogul Philip Vaughn in October 2024 as she was seen with the Seattle-based entrepreneur as they went to dinner in New York City.

Despite going through an ‘unbelievably painful’ divorce with Bill, Melinda put tensions aside when it came to Philip, who used to work at her ex’s company.

The pair’s sightings only heightened throughout 2024, though specific details surrounding their relationship timeline remain private.

Their relationship reflects their shared interests – innovation, business and the overall navigation of life after significant career and personal changes.

As for Bill’s new memoir, he told Today that the process of revisiting his early years was surprising as he ‘doesn’t look back much.’

‘This year, I turn 70, Microsoft turns 50, and so I thought, OK, I should share what luck I had to have amazing parents, you know, the way they let me go out and hike and try new things,’ he said.

‘I was just unbelievably lucky,’ he added. ‘And you know, that’s why Microsoft ended up being so successful.’