Melinda French Gates

Co-founder and Co-chair at Gates Foundation
Seattle

Melinda French Gates is Founder and Philanthropist at Pivotal and Co-founder and Co-chair at Gates Foundation. She founded the non-profit Pivotal, which she continues to lead, and is a minority investor in Seattle Kraken / One Roof Sports & Entertainment.

GeekWire Podcast, Live from Fremont: Seahawks, AI, and Seattle's Future

We're live this week in the "Center of the Universe" in Seattle for a special recording of the GeekWire Podcast, presented by the Fremont Chamber of Commerce at Fremont Brewing Co. Fresh off the Seahawks' Super Bowl victory, we debate some potential ownership groups for the Seahawks and Sonics — from Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez to Costco's Jim Sinegal. (Who wouldn't want $1.50 hot dogs and sodas at Lumen Field or Climate Pledge Arena?) Then we dig into the debate over Seattle's tech future, sparked by angel investor Charles Fitzgerald's GeekWire column, "A warning to Seattle: Don't become the…

Why Arivale failed

Founded in 2015, Seattle startup Arivale aspired to pioneer a new sector called scientific wellness, combining genetic testing with personal coaching to improve the health of its members. Its founder, genomics legend Lee Hood, said the company "really stands a chance of being the Google or Microsoft of this whole arena." But four years later, Arivale abruptly closed its doors this week. We explain what happened with special guest, GeekWire chief business officer Daniel Rossi, an Arivale member whose experience in the program was chronicled in our 2017 series. Plus, Microsoft breaks the trillion-dollar mark, Bill Gates serves as a…

Unicorns, IPOs and the next tech giants

Seattle has a new unicorn, Outreach, the sales and marketing automation company that raised a $114 million funding round this week, pushing its valuation to $1.1 billion. The news sends John and Todd on a startup odyssey, exploring the hidden connections among the new wave of public companies and tech behemoths in Silicon Valley and Seattle, including Uber, Lyft, Convoy and others. Plus, Amazon and Microsoft are preparing to challenge Apple's AirPods,. And on the Random Channel, Melinda Gates has a message for the tech industry, and John is determined to be a "Never Throner." See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Organizations

See all 8
  • Gates Foundation Co-founder and Co-chair, Former Co-chair · current
  • Kraken / One Roof Sports & Entertainment Minority Investor · current
  • One Roof Sports & Entertainment Investor, Philanthropist · current

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