Melinda French Gates' Post-Divorce Transformation Has Heads Turning

At the start of 2025, billionaire Bill Gates raised more than a few eyebrows when he declared that he regretted divorcing Melinda French Gates in 2021 after marrying her in 1994. Naturally, this made us curious. Was this a case of a divorce that never should have happened, or is Melinda having the time of her life? If you guessed that the former Mrs. Gates had her tent pitched in Regretsville, you'd be totally wrong. Beyond her actual statements, her undeniable glow-up puts her among the celebrities who have had a stunning style transformation after a breakup.

Before the divorce, Melinda seemed to live in Bill's shadow. Not many people knew that she had an MBA in computer science or that she'd worked at Microsoft before she met and married the billionaire. Combined with the infidelity rumors that plagued their marriage, it wasn't exactly surprising that she became unhappy. In April 2025, a person who knew Melinda during her marriage described her as "bewilderingly downbeat" to The Times, adding that she took "no pleasure in being herself" at the time. As anyone who's ever been in an unhappy relationship can attest, it affects everything, from your inner glow to the clothes you choose and even the confidence with which you wear them. 

Certain fashion choices send a not-so-subtle message, and Melinda's past outfits were generic with little personality. However, following their divorce, there has been a major 180. Melinda is leaning into a chic aesthetic with flattering cuts, killer heels, and that inner spark that makeup can't recreate. Even social media agrees. At the 2024 Albie Awards, Melinda showed up in a low-cut flowery dress, and the internet was obsessed. "You look great, the glow is amazing," one commenter wrote.

Melinda French Gates' transformation might have come after her divorce from Bill Gates, but even before she met him, she was dealing with body image issues thanks to a toxic college boyfriend. "He cared a lot about how I looked and said a lot of things about it to me and that really is not okay. It really is not," she shared on the podcast "The Jamie Kern Lima Show" in April 2025. They split up, but not before his words left marks.

When Melinda realized that she had issues to work through, she enrolled in therapy, and it helped her work through her feelings about her marriage and herself. "Now I want to be fit because I want to be able to do all the things I want and I want to be healthy, but I'm not so focused on, you know, am I X weight or Y weight or do I fit in that size pants or another?" she explained on the podcast. Though therapy was a step to recovering her spark after feeling defeated, Melinda doesn't view it as a cure-all. "[The body image issues] are still there in the back of my head a little bit, but it just isn't a big call anymore," she added.

These days, Melinda seems to stay single and more focused on her philanthropic ventures and making the most of her post-divorce life. As for her reaction to Bill calling their divorce a mistake, well, Melinda doesn't quite agree. "It was something that was necessary," she told The Times. "He's got his own life. I have my life now. I am very happy."