Melinda French Gates makes red carpet debut with rumored boyfriend Philip Vaughn

By Phong Ngo October 7, 2025 | 09:04 pm PT

Bill Gates’ ex-wife Melinda French Gates and her rumored boyfriend, businessman Philip Vaughn, made their first public appearance together at a London event.

Melinda, 61, was all smiles as she posed arm-in-arm with Vaughn, 48, at The Albies, the annual awards event hosted by the Clooney Foundation for Justice, held at the Natural History Museum in London on Oct. 3.

She, who previously attended the ceremony alongside her daughter Phoebe Gates, was honored for her 25 years of work advancing women’s health and gender equality, People reported.

"After setting the direction of the world’s largest philanthropy for more than two decades at the Gates Foundation, she now leads Pivotal — an organization that works to accelerate the pace of progress and advance women’s power and influence in the U.S. and around the world," according to a news release from the Clooney Foundation for Justice.

Melinda French Gates and her rumored boyfriend business Philip Vaughn. Photo from Instagram

According to his LinkedIn profile, Vaughn is the founder and chairman of the craft beer delivery company Tavour. He also worked at Microsoft between 1999 and 2008. Melinda, who also worked at Microsoft and met Bill there, left the company before the birth of their first child in 1996.

Melinda and Vaughn were first spotted together on Oct. 30, 2024, when they were seen holding hands after stepping off a helicopter in New York City and later dining in Manhattan, according to Page Six. They were again seen holding hands on April 13 while heading to a Broadway show in New York, People reported.

The following day, Melinda appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote her memoir "The Next Day," confirming she was in a "pretty great" relationship and that she was "very, very happy."

This marks Melinda’s first public relationship since her 2021 divorce from Bill, which ended their 27-year marriage. The former couple share three children: Jennifer, 29, Rory, 26, and Phoebe, 23.

Bill, 69, is currently dating Paula Hurd, widow of former Oracle co-CEO Mark Hurd. He described the relationship as "serious" during an interview on the Today show in February.