When Bill Gates met Melinda Gates in 1987, the Microsoft founder had just ended another relationship. For the previous three years, Bill had been dating Ann Winblad, a computer programmer like himself, according to a 1997 report. Weather profile. Bill and Winblad met at a computer conference in 1984, where they connected through biotechnology. At first, their relationship was long distance. Her favorite activity was going to the movies separately and then talking about it on their car phones, The Seattle Times detailed.
But by 1987, Winblad, then in its 30s, was ready to establish itself. Bill, five years her junior, was not. With the cold calculation of mathematicians, Bill and Winblad parted ways, but the breakup was not the end of their friendship. In fact, when Bill was considering proposing to Melinda, he called Winblad to ask for her opinion. “He could have chosen any woman for his wife for life. He has chosen her, and that means she is an exceptional woman,” he told James Wallace in his 1997 biography. “Overdrive” (Through the New York Post).
After marrying Bill, Melinda continued to allow him to go on vacation with Winblad. “We can play putt-putt while we discuss biotech,” she said of her front doors to her beach house. Although she was not as prominent as her ex-boyfriend, Winblad became a successful businesswoman. In 1989, she founded the software venture firm Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, of which she serves as CEO, according to her website.
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