Gates' first job was tutoring math and computer programming to children.[17] After graduation, Melinda joined Microsoft as a marketing manager, where she was responsible for leading the development of various multimedia products.[18] These included Cinemania, Encarta, Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Money, Works (Macintosh) and Word.[18][19] In addition, she worked on Expedia, which is now one of today's biggest travel booking websites. In a software demonstration of Microsoft Bob, Gates later recalled that it was "one of the hardest things I've ever done".[20] However, the program was a commercial failure. In the early 1990s, Gates was appointed as General Manager of Information Products, a position which she held until 1996.[2] She left Microsoft to focus on starting and raising her family.

Gates served as a member of Duke University's Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2003.[21] She attends the annual Bilderberg Group conference and has held a seat on the Board of Directors of The Washington Post company since 2004.[22] She was also on the Board of Directors at Drugstore.com, but left in August 2006 to focus on philanthropy projects.[23] Since 2000, Gates has been active in the public eye, stating "As I thought about strong women of history, I realized that they stepped out in some way".[18] This has helped her work become recognized, while shaping and delivering goals of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. As of 2014, Bill and Melinda have donated US$28 billion to the Foundation.[24]

Author
In 2019, Gates debuted as an author with the book The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World. Former President Barack Obama starred in a comedy sketch in order to promote the book.[25][26] The book highlights the failure to acknowledge women's unpaid work, drawing on feminist economist Dame Marilyn Waring's book If Women Counted.[27]