Melinda French Gates has rapidly elevated her relatively new Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation to become one of the nation’s largest private foundations, a transformation accelerated by her separation from former husband Bill Gates.
As detailed in a tax filing and previously reported by the New York Times’ DealBook, Gates committed to a $7.88 billion contribution—ranking among the largest donations on record—to French Gates’ private foundation as part of their high-profile 2021 divorce agreement.
This donation from Gates caused the assets of Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation to surge by over 1,000%, reaching approximately $7.4 billion in 2024, according to . This represents a significant increase from the $604 million recorded at the close of 2023.
Following the separation of their philanthropic endeavors in May 2024, French Gates’ Pivotal Philanthropies now stands among the most influential players in philanthropy. This group includes Mackenzie Scott, who donated to various organizations in 2025 alone. Scott has donated extensively since her divorce from founder Jeff Bezos.
A spokesperson for Pivotal Philanthropies confirmed to that the multibillion-dollar gift from Gates is a component of a previously announced $12.5 billion sum that French Gates stated would be distributed under her “agreement with Bill.” The spokesperson confirmed these funds have been fully disbursed.
After stepping down as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (now the Gates Foundation) in May 2024, French Gates indicated the $12.5 billion would be utilized “.”. French Gates, whose net worth is $17.7 billion per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, had previously told that billionaires such as herself “”
The destination of the remaining $4.6 billion is not specified. According to DealBook, these funds may have been directed to French Gates’ LLC, Pivotal, which is not required to file a tax return.
Established in 2022 with the goal to “accelerate the pace of social progress for women and young people,” Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation functions within a network that also encompasses the Pivotal Initiatives Fund for policy and advocacy and Pivotal Ventures, which concentrates on direct investments and partnerships, as per Pivotal’s . As a 501(c)(3), Pivotal Philanthropies must adhere to strict rules on minimum payouts, self-dealing, and reporting. In contrast, the LLC structure of Pivotal Ventures exempts it from such rigorous reporting, granting it greater operational freedom, flexibility, and privacy.
Durham-based nonprofit , which assists young women in or aspiring to join the tech industry, is one recipient of prior donations from Pivotal Philanthropies. Founder Sue Harnett stated the organization, celebrating its 10th year, was granted $5 million by Pivotal Philanthropies in 2025.
Harnett has expanded her organization from a single employee in 2019 to 26 currently, growth she attributes partly to Pivotal’s funding. For 2026, the nonprofit plans to concentrate on preparing computer science students and women at the start of their tech careers for a world where AI is everywhere.
According to Harnett, the support from Pivotal has been crucial for sustaining these initiatives and, vitally, for ensuring they remain free of charge for the women they aim to help.
“It’s transformative,” Harnett told . “It has allowed us to serve thousands more women than we ever could. It’s allowed us to build up a staff that has a variety of talents that we really need to be able to serve the women of our membership as well as we possibly can.”