Bill and Melinda Gates' attempts to shield their children's lives

Melinda French adopted her husband's last name Bill Gates when they married. A story that did not have an easy start. "She had multiple boyfriends, and I had Microsoft," the microcomputer giant prosaically says in the 2019 Netflix miniseries

"We said, 'Hey, there's nothing really serious between us, huh?" But seven years later they were married and two later Jennifer, the eldest of their three children, came into the world. Young people for whom their mother recovered her maiden name when she enrolled them in public school, in an attempt to make them as anonymous as possible. In part he has succeeded, but now the Gates' divorce has put them in the forefront of media attention.

When Jennifer was born, Melinda Gates, then general manager of multimedia products, left Microsoft to dedicate herself to her family. Then came Rory in 1999 and Phoebe in 2002. Since then, little has leaked into the Gates' family life.

The brothers have grown up protected from the spotlight in the family's impressive mansion in Medina, a city on Lake Washington opposite Seattle. Known as Xanadú 2.0 by its billionaire owners, the 4,500-square-meter mansion is known for being packed with high-tech products, in addition to its 24 bathrooms, 6 kitchens, and 2 tennis courts, among other luxuries. This is where Melinda Gates asked her husband to share the household and family chores. When his oldest daughter started school in the early 2000s, Bill made the hour-long commute twice a week. Small efforts that end up changing the rules of the game, according to Melinda Gates: “Seeing Bill driving the children, the other moms went home and told their husbands:"If Bill Gates takes his kids to school, you can do it too."

The oldest, Jennifer, 25, has become a spokesperson for her siblings and hours after her parents' separation was announced, she addressed her 415,000 Instagram followers: “Thank you for understanding that we need privacy while we navigate the next stages of our lives ”. His siblings keep their accounts private.

Jennifer studied human biology at Stanford, before studying medicine at the Icahn School at Mount Sinai in New York. In between, he took a year off to pursue his passion, horseback riding. An accomplished Amazon, in her group of friends are Destry Spielberg (Steven's daughter), Jessica Springsteen (Bruce's daughter) and Eve Jobs (Steve's daughter). A year ago, the young woman announced her engagement to 30-year-old Egyptian horseman Nayel Nassar, a wedding postponed by the pandemic. Among the images of Jennifer on her social networks, there is no shortage of the romantic snapshots she shares with her boyfriend. Nassar, who grew up in Kuwait but moved to California to study Business and Economics also at Stanford University.The young man is a professional rider who has been awarded the first prize in the Western Sub-League of the Longines FEI World Cup, among other competitions, and combines equestrianism with his own training and horse sales business that he has in San Diego.

Of Rory and Phoebe, who are 21 and 18, respectively, only their faces are vaguely known, which are occasionally seen in the photos published by Melinda Gates on her Instagram account, along with some comments.

In them it counts, for example, that Rory is a declared feminist.

Their father has decided to deprive them of much of his legacy, something he revealed long ago.

"I don't think you're doing someone a favor by giving them billions in inheritance," Bill Gates said on the Reddit platform in 2015. "It's not good to grow up without having to work."

That's why their billions were given to The Giving Pledge, the program launched by the Gates and their friend Warren Buffett, in which the hyper-fortunate pledge to donate half of their estate to philanthropic works during their lifetime.

In 2000, the couple founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, dedicated to accessing health care and education, and reducing extreme poverty around the world. After announcing their divorce, the still couple has guaranteed that they will continue to work together at the head of the charity. "We know that we have been very lucky professionally, and for our part we want to give opportunities in the best possible way and to the greatest number of people," they declared in 2005, after being chosen personalities of the year by

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