Melinda French Gates says she doesn't like being a billionaire: ‘It’s a great responsibility'

Melinda French Gates said that for her immense wealth comes with a great responsibility although it's not one that bogs her down. Talking to Vanity Fair, the philanthropist said her wealth feels "surreal" and that it comes with a “great responsibility. But it doesn't feel like a weight.” The "weighty part" is watching struggling mothers support their children and figuring out how she can work to help them, she said.

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Melinda French Gates' net worth is estimated to be $11 billion, as per Forbes while Bloomberg Billionaires Index clocks her net worth at around $13.5 billion. She has spent more than 20 years in philanthropy since the launch of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which was established in 2000 with her ex-husband Bill Gates.

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Melinda French Gates stepped down from her cochair role at the foundation in June this year- three years after her divorce from Bill Gates. She said that the terms of her resignation came with an additional $12.5 billion for her charitable work at the foundation and she planned to use the money “to commit to my work on behalf of women and families.”

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Melinda French Gates also told Vanity Fair that some of her personal wealth goes into political campaigns and her donations to the Kamala Harris campaign have been “substantial”.

Earlier she said, "If you are lucky enough to be a billionaire, believe me, you can give away half of it and not change your life. We should have a society where if for whatever reason wealth is in your hands, you put it back in society so that you change and you lift up others."