Lifestyle

Who Is Paula Hurd? The Quiet Force Behind Bill Gates’s New Chapter

From executive boardrooms to tennis foundations — Paula Hurd’s rise to global attention is more than a billionaire love story.

Los Angeles, June 30: She’s not one to dominate a room, but when Paula Hurd walks in, there’s a kind of stillness — the kind that follows someone who’s known power, pain, and purpose. You won’t find her chasing flashbulbs or feeding Instagram; she’s not built that way. Yet here she is, headline-adjacent to Bill Gates, a tech titan whose life has been under the microscope since floppy disks were a thing.

And somehow, quietly, beautifully, she fits.

A Steady Life Built in the Background

Born Paula Kalupa sometime in the early ’60s — back when bell-bottoms were bold and IBM still loomed large — she carved a path most wouldn’t recognize at first glance. A business degree from the University of Texas at Austin, a nearly 20-year run at NCR Corporation, where she led alliance management and strategy long before LinkedIn made such titles look glossy.

She thrived in rooms filled with men in starched shirts and dated jargon, but never lost her own compass. A quiet force, her work ethic wasn’t performative — it was earned. “She didn’t just lead; she listened,” said a former colleague. “And that’s rarer than you’d think.”

But life doesn’t always stay inside the lanes we pave. In October 2019, she lost her husband, Mark Hurd, the high-powered CEO of Oracle and former top boss at Hewlett-Packard. It was sudden. Devastating. And the kind of grief that doesn’t ask for your résumé.

With two daughters, Kathryn and Kelly, she moved forward, not by burying the past, but by growing around it.

Tennis Courts, Baylor Walls, and the Long Game of Giving Back

The next chapter didn’t come with fanfare, but you could see her stepping into something new. Hurd began curating events — not the glitzy influencer kind, but elegant affairs that stitched together corporate polish with personal meaning. She had a knack for understanding what made people feel seen.

Philanthropy became her language. Her $7 million gift to Baylor University in 2021 wasn’t just a tribute to Mark — it was a reimagining of how memory becomes momentum. The Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center, opened in 2023, isn’t just a building. It breathes. Students come in, unsure and wide-eyed, and leave feeling like they belong.

And then there’s the Universal Tennis Foundation, where Hurd serves as Chairman. It’s a cause close to home. Not red-carpet glitzy, not headline-hungry — just meaningful. Helping young athletes bridge the gulf between college and pro tennis, especially the ones without sponsors, without noise. Just talent, and hope.

Then Came Bill

You’ve probably seen the photos by now: March 2022, Indian Wells, Paula seated quietly next to Bill Gates, both in sunglasses, squinting into the desert light. Nothing screamed romance. Just two people sharing space.

But then came the Laver Cup, the Australian Open, the murmurs, the confirmations. By early 2023, the whispers had turned into headlines: Paula Hurd is dating Bill Gates.

And yet, it never felt like a power couple performance. No rehearsed hand-holding. No interviews dropped like breadcrumbs. Just moments — like their red-carpet debut at the Breakthrough Prize Ceremony in April 2024. She wore black, understated but striking. He beamed. They looked comfortable, not curated.

By February 2025, Gates finally spoke it aloud on Today: “I’m lucky to have a serious girlfriend named Paula… We’re having fun. Going to the Olympics and lots of great things.”

It wasn’t a scripted soundbite. It was something sweeter — something like real.

Beyond the “Girlfriend” Tag

Here’s the thing: It’s tempting to reduce Paula Hurd to a relationship status. Happens all the time — especially to women who orbit men with mega-fortunes and memoirs. But look closer. She’s not just in the picture; she’s got a brush in her hand.

She’s credited in Gates’s memoir, Source Code: My Beginnings, for giving early feedback. She’s a fixture at elite gatherings — from the Ambani pre-wedding extravaganza in Jamnagar to Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez’s Venetian welcome party just this month. But she doesn’t act like she needs to be seen. She’s not posing. She’s participating.

And the public? Slowly catching on. Times of India called her “accomplished in her own right.” PEOPLE noted how her visibility has grown, but always in sync with her grounded nature.

“She’s not flashy,” a family friend said. “She’s effective.”

A Soft Power Love Story

What’s refreshing — maybe even radical — about Hurd is that she’s not trying to rewrite the rules. She’s just living them differently. There’s no pressure to match Melinda French Gates’s philanthropic empire, no urge to overshadow. Just mutual respect, some shared laughter, and two very full lives slowly finding a rhythm.

And now, with the Paris Olympics looming and Gates confirming she’ll be by his side, the world will keep watching. But don’t expect a show. Expect something subtler — a hand resting on a forearm during a quiet moment in the stands, a shared inside joke, a familiar glance.

Paula Hurd is not here to dazzle. She’s here to matter.


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Author Profile
Sneha Kashyap
Reporting Fellow at 

Sneha Kashyap is a Reporting Fellow at Hindustan Herald, specializing in the vibrant world of entertainment and contemporary lifestyle trends. A student at GGSIPU, Delhi, Sneha brings a fresh perspective and a keen eye for cultural narratives to her daily reporting. She is dedicated to exploring the latest in film, music, fashion, and social phenomena, offering readers insightful and engaging content.

Source
PEOPLE Times of India Town & CountryVnExpress Business Insider NDTV PEOPLE
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