--- title: Melinda French Gates Is Going It Alone | TIME description: The philanthropist talks leaving her foundation, giving away $1 billion, and life after divorce. canonical: https://time.com/video/gkVjKuL6/ og:title: Melinda French Gates Is Going It Alone og:description: The philanthropist talks leaving her foundation, giving away $1 billion, and life after divorce. og:url: https://time.com/video/gkVjKuL6/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gkVjKuL6/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Melinda French Gates Is Going It Alone twitter:description: The philanthropist talks leaving her foundation, giving away $1 billion, and life after divorce. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gkVjKuL6/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Melinda French Gates Is Going It Alone > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Melinda French Gates Is Going It Alone [Watch (HLS stream): Melinda French Gates Is Going It Alone](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gkVjKuL6.m3u8) (5:06)  _Published 2024-06-18. The philanthropist talks leaving her foundation, giving away $1 billion, and life after divorce._ --- Jun 17, 2024 9:20 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Melinda Gates | TIME100 Talks](/video/tvK5XUEh/) ### Melinda Gates | TIME100 Talks [FIRSTS Melinda Gates ](/video/kIl6lijZ/) ### FIRSTS Melinda Gates [Melinda Gates on Empowering Women](/video/WfsjM7Xk/) ### Melinda Gates on Empowering Women --- ## Transcript I don't really like the word empowering anymore empowering women. It's like we're giving them something. Women have their power. They have their power inside of them. So whether it's their voice, so their decision making, or if they control resources. And so it's really helping them find that power inside of them already. A lot of women are very angry about the Dobbs decision, and I wanted a you. I wouldn't say I'm angry. I'm absolutely shocked, shocked and surprised. And I have found other things that I'm angry about at times in my work, particularly if I've been traveling to low income countries, but I always believe that you need to take the anger, whatever anger you are, tough emotion, and then fuel it into the work. With this billion dollar announcement I just recently made that'll go through pivotal ventures. I am absolutely focusing on organizations that I feel like have been having to play the defense because we haven't put enough money into gender topics for a long time to let them play on the offense. I believe in using every tool in my toolbox, so whether that's philanthropic money, whether that's private money I use for investing for social good, or whether it's using C four money to do political giving. And I give specifically to candidates who I believe share similar values to me and are trying to move society forward in the same way as I believe in. F to tell us who you're going to vote for this year. Well, I think it's again, I voted I voted in some elections Republican, some Democratic. I don't think it's any surprise that there's no chance I could vote for Donald Trup not a single chance. Not after what he has done to women's reproductive rights, and not after the heinous things he has said about women. I will be voting absolutely for Biden. Miss C. You're entering your 60s with kind of a whole new life. You're single. Your children are out of the house and launched. You're no longer with the Gates Foundation, how does it feel? Energizing. I'm actually really excited about life ahead, and I don't think I fully know even what life is ahead all is about. I mean, I think things changed for all of us, right? You know, every year, things come along that you didn't expect. So I'm really energized. I know it have at least another good decade of work in me, and I think that the body of knowledge, hopefully, some wisdom that I gained and learned from others along the way. You know, I'll keep learning and use all of that to build on what I already know, but then to hopefully contribute to the world. What would you say to regular people who want to do their part, who want to be helpful, who want to serve? What can they do that perhaps you can't? I would say to people, you have your time. You have your expertise, and if you have some resources, some money. It doesn't have to be a lot. You have no idea sometimes whether that random act of kindness will change somebody's life. Like something you say to maybe a teenager who's going through a tough time, or maybe you give your expertise to an organization that needs, if you're good at marketing or you're good at financial skills, they need those skills in their nonprofit. When I think about who's had influence on my life, or I ask somebody else, they will often say, a teacher, a coach, a parent, So, those are all ways that we're all giving back. What would you do differently in the last 60 years? Well, what I would do differently is more really on a personal basis. It was not something about my work in any way. But I would tell the people that I love, that I love them more often. What is your biggest indulgence? Coke. Come on. No, seriously. I love a really good coke over ice. Like, I actually have a I don't keep very many in my house, but that's a huge indulgence. The other thing my kids would tell you is they just asked me recently, do you still do that, Mom? I love growing up. It's like the memories, right? I love hostess cupcakes, but I don't keep them in the house. I drive to the gas station to get them. Where do you even find hostess cupcakes? Some gas stations still have them. But my daughter went to find me some recently, and all she found were orange. I've never even had an orange hostess cupcake. I didn't even know if they existed. So now everybody knows what to get you for your 60s. Coco. Chocolate, cupcake. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Melinda French Gates Is Going It Alone","description":"The philanthropist talks leaving her foundation, giving away $1 billion, and life after divorce.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/gkVjKuL6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-06-18T12:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gkVjKuL6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/gkVjKuL6/","duration":"PT5M6S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/gkVjKuL6/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```