Bill Gates and ex-wife Melinda share first photos with newborn grandchild

Bill Gates and ex-wife Melinda Gates have shared their first photos of their newborn granddaughter.

The 67-year-old Microsoft co-founder took to Instagram on Thursday to share a picture of himself holding the newborn baby. Bill and his ex-wife became first-time grandparents last month when their 26-year-old daughter Jennifer Gates gave birth to her first child with husband Nayel Nassar.

In the caption of his Instagram post, Bill sent a sweet message to his granddaughter, writing: “I can’t wait to watch you discover the world.”

The same day, Melinda also shared a photo of herself holding her grandchild, who was wrapped in a blanket, on Instagram. In the caption, she reflected on the interaction and her memories of raising her eldest daughter.

“There is nothing quite like holding your first grandchild,” she wrote. “It seems like just yesterday I was holding Jenn at this age.”

She continued to celebrate Jennifer’s latest milestone, adding: “Now she has a baby of her own - and I am bursting with pride watching her and Nayel step into their new role as parents.”

In the comments of Melinda’s post, many fans and famous faces left sweet congratulatory messages.

“Congratulations, Melinda and family! What a precious gift!” filmmaker Ava DuVernay wrote, while activist Malala Yousafzai added: “Congratulations,” with a red heart emoji.

Celebrity makeup artist Kindra Mann wrote: “This is the sweetest!!”

Along with Jennfier, the two philanthropists, who announced their separation in 2021 after 27 years of marriage, share two children, Rory, 23, and Phoebe, 20.

Bill, who founded the Gates Foundation with his ex, has previously shared his thoughts about becoming a grandparent, after Jennifer first announced that she was pregnant in November 2022. In his end of the year blog post, shared last December, the billionaire investor explained how Jennifer’s pregnancy impacted his everyday perspective.

“But I started looking at the world through a new lens recently - when my older daughter gave me the incredible news that I’ll become a grandfather next year,” he wrote. “Simply typing that phrase: ‘I’ll become a grandfather next year,’ makes me emotional. And the thought gives a new dimension to my work.”

Elsewhere in the blog post, he also reflected on his divorce and confessed that the end of his marriage was one of his “personal low points over the past few years”.

In March 2022, Melinda spoke out about the split and revealed what encouraged her to get a divorce. “It wasn’t one moment or one specific thing that happened,” she said during an interview with CBS Mornings. “There just came a point in time where there was enough there that I realised it just wasn’t healthy and I couldn’t trust what we had.”