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Melinda and Bill Gates’ oldest child Jennifer Gates announced her engagement to Nayel Nassar last year in January and it seems like the wedding is just around the corner. Over the weekend Melinda threw a beautiful outdoor bridal shower for her daughter in the garden of the Gates’ home in Washington, named Xanadu 2.0. Jennifer shared a gallery of photos and expressed her gratitude in the caption. “Thank you for this incredibly special celebration,” she wrote tagging her mom. “So deeply grateful for all the amazing women in my life who advise, support, and uplift me. 🥂 to this new chapter!”
Jennifer’s parents divorced after 27 years of marriage and it was finalized this year in August in which they split their $130 billion fortune, leaving Melinda with $65 billion from the estate. Jennifer’s bridal shower took place at one of the several mansions owned by the former couple. As noted by DailyMail however the Xanadu 2.0 Washington eco-mansion was considered the “jewel” of the divorce as it took more than seven years and $63 million to complete.
The mansion was clearly Bill‘s favorite as he even wrote about it in his book “The Road Ahead,” which he wrote from the guest house, while the main house was being constructed. “I wanted craftsmanship but nothing ostentatious,” he wrote. “I wanted a house that would accommodate sophisticated, changing technology but in an unobtrusive way that made it clear that technology was the servant, not the master.” Now worth 125 million dollars, the sprawling 66,000-square-foot lakefront property was reportedly given to Bill in the divorce but it seems like the patriarch is up for sharing it.
Jennifer is a skilled equestrian and she found someone with a similar interest in hobbies as her Egyptian soon-to-be husband is a show jumper. She shared the news of their engagement on Instagram on January 29, 2020, with a photo of them in the snow right after she said yes. “Nayel Nassar, you are one of a kind. Absolutely swept me off my feet this past weekend, surprising me in the most meaningful location over one of our many shared passions. I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives learning, growing, laughing, and loving together” she wrote in the caption.