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Billionaire Bill Gates, talking about his relationship with Paula Hurd, has described her as his "serious girlfriend" and shared that the couple is "having fun" together. The co-founder of Microsoft, 69, spoke about Ms Hurd during an interview on TODAY yesterday, giving a rare glimpse of his personal life since his high-profile divorce from Melinda French Gates in 2021.
"I'm lucky to have a serious girlfriend named Paula," Mr Gates said. "So we're having fun, going to the Olympics and lots of great things."
The couple has been spotted together at various public events since 2022, but they did not confirm their relationship until the following year. Since then, Mr Gates and Ms Hurd have made several public appearances together, including at the 2024 Olympics.
Paula Hurd, the widow of former Oracle CEO Mark Hurd, has a long history of philanthropic work, particularly in education and health care.
She was married to Mark Hurd until his death in 2019, and the couple had two daughters together. Over the past two decades, she has supported fundraising efforts for various nonprofit organisations.
Ms Hurd also received recognition in Gates' recently published memoir, Source Code, which was released yesterday. In the book's acknowledgements, Mr Gates credited her as one of the early readers of his manuscript.
The memoir details Mr Gates' formative years, covering his childhood and early career up until the late 1970s, a few years after he co-founded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975.
Speaking about the book on TODAY, Gates said revisiting his past was a unique experience.
"This year, I turn 70, Microsoft turns 50, and so I thought, OK, I should share what luck I had to have amazing parents, you know, the way they let me go out and hike and try new things," he said. "I was just unbelievably lucky, and, you know, that's why Microsoft ended up being so successful."