<p class="ingestion featured-caption">Melinda French Gates is one of the richest women in the world.Cindy Ord/ Getty Images</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>Melinda French Gates ranks 10th on Forbes' The World's 100 Most Powerful Women list.</li><li>French Gates, worth $13.4 billion, co-founded the Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates Foundation.</li></ul><p><a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/life-of-melinda-gates-2016-3#melinda-gates-ne-french-grew-up-in-dallas-texas-with-her-parents-a-stay-at-home-mother-and-an-aerospace-engineer-father-and-her-three-siblings-the-family-belonged-to-the-local-roman-catholic-parish-1">Melinda French Gates</a> is a renowned philanthropist, which has helped earn her the spot as the 10th most powerful woman in the world, according to Forbes' The World's 100 Most Powerful Women list.</p><p>French Gates is worth $13.4 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaires Index, which ranks her 157th among the world's richest billionaires, as of Friday, August 2.</p><p>Since founding the Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates Foundation in 2000 with her former husband, Microsoft cofounder Bill Gates, the pair have donated $59.5 billion to the charitable foundation.</p><p>In May, French Gates announced she was <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-melinda-french-gates-leaving-foundation-after-divorce-2024-5">stepping down from her role</a> as cochair of the foundation. In her announcement, she said she remains committed to "people and organizations working on behalf of women and families around the world, including on reproductive rights in the United States."</p><p>French Gates <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/melinda-french-gates-endorses-kamala-harris-abortion-rights-2024-7">endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris</a> in the 2024 presidential election race and highlighted the importance of a leader who will advocate for abortion rights.</p><p>She previously backed President Joe Biden before he left the race, a decision that <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/tesla-ceo-elon-musk">Tesla CEO Elon Musk</a> criticized in January.</p><p>Here's a look at French Gates' life and career so far.</p>