Melinda French Gates Talks About Navigating Panic Attacks And Personal Reinvention After Microsoft

Melinda French Gates, co-founder of the Gates Foundation and founder of Pivotal Ventures, recently opened up about navigating life’s major shifts, while emphasizing the importance of not rushing through significant transitions, referring to the period between changes as a valuable “clearing” — a quiet space rich with lessons.

What Happened: In a candid conversation with the Wall Street Journal, Gates, 60, talks about her memoir, “The Next Day,” which explores her life’s shifts candidly, including her experiences with panic attacks around her divorce from Microsoft MSFT founder Bill Gates. French Gates stresses the value of acknowledging one’s mental health struggles openly, hoping her honesty will resonate and assist others.

Stepping Into Independence With Pivotal

After two decades at the Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates now leads Pivotal Ventures full-time, majorly shifting her focus to issues directly affecting American women. Her $1 billion commitment through Pivotal aims at addressing women's health, caregiving, and gender equality. She highlights the profound setbacks women have faced, particularly post the Dobbs decision, and throws light on maternal mortality as an urgent crisis demanding immediate action.

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Despite these intense responsibilities, French Gates appreciates the reduced international travel, allowing her more family time — a priority she deeply values at this stage.

Cold Plunges and Kayaking

French Gates maintains a practical personal routine: early morning walks with longtime friends, summer kayaking, winter workouts, and even a decade-long dedication to cold plunges, attributing them to mental resilience. She remains comfortably private in Seattle, appreciating simple pleasures like Audrey Hepburn memorabilia and leisurely reading cultural fiction.

When reflecting on legacy, French Gates prioritizes tangible societal improvements for future generations, inspired by wise words from Warren Buffett: “You're working on the problems society left behind…so don't be so tough on yourself.”

Image via Shutterstock

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