Paula Hurd, who is dating Bill Gates, is the widow of the CEO of technology company Oracle and a former senior manager at the software company.
Last weekend, Paula Hurd, 60, attracted attention when she and Bill Gates, 67, met his children at a restaurant in New York. Paula wore a ring on her left ring finger, sparking speculation that she was engaged to the billionaire founder of Microsoft. However, Paula’s representative said she had the ring for decades and it did not symbolize an engagement.
Gates and his ex-wife Melinda French Gates divorced after 27 years of marriage in mid-2021.
Since 2022, Mr. Gates and Paula have appeared in public many times watching tennis, but it was not until February this year that a source close to the couple confirmed that they were dating.
Paula is the widow of Mark Hurd, CEO of software company Oracle. The marriage lasted nearly 30 years until Hurd died of cancer in October 2019. The couple had two daughters.
Hurd was a well-known businessman who turned around many struggling companies. His net worth before his death was estimated at $70 million.
Paula graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, earning a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1984. She held various business and management positions at software company NCR for two decades, her last being vice president of services. The company is a provider of software, hardware, and enterprise services to banks and retailers.
Paula now works as a developer and organizes events and “memorable experiences” for individuals, companies, and charitable groups, according to her LinkedIn bio.
Paula is a tennis enthusiast and is the president of the Tennis Popularization Association, an organization in the United States whose mission is to increase tennis education and make the sport more accessible to everyone. She sponsors an annual award named after her late husband, which helps college tennis players transition to professional play. She and her late husband have been regular contributors to Mark’s alma mater, Baylor University. In 2018, they built the Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center, which introduces the school and hosts arts and sports events. The couple also donated $7 million to build a basketball arena for the school.
