Money doesn’t fall far from the Microsoft tree. Although Melinda French Gates, the ex-wife of tech billionaire Bill Gates has made it known though various media interviews that she strives to keep their kids — Jennifer (30), Rory (25), and Phoebe (23) — humble. But despite this, a story recently resurfaced on Business Insider that Jennifer made a headline-making real estate move in 2023 when a $51 million NYC penthouse at 443 Greenwich Street in Tribeca was purchased for her through the family trust when she was just 26. The home was for he and her husband, Nayel Nassar, an Egyptian-American professional equestrian who she married in 2021.
The ‘Humble” Abode
The home is a study in scale and discretion: an 8,900-square-foot, three-level residence with six bedrooms, six bathrooms, two powder rooms, a 3,400-square-foot outdoor terrace complete with a plunge pool, and two of the building’s limited parking space.
According to Business Insider, the penthouse has both direct access to a private elevator and separate service access, features that align with the building’s reputation for privacy and vehicle-focused design. That underground garage and valet lobby architecture helped establish 443 Greenwich as a celebrity-favored address.
This unit previously belonged to Formula 1 champion Lewis Hamilton, who acquired it in 2017 for roughly $44 million before moving on to other properties.
Jennifer’s purchase came through a Seattle-based trust tied to the Gates family, a common structure for high-value acquisitions tied to families with complex financial and philanthropic arrangements. In practice, that means the transaction combined classic luxury-market elements — privacy, provenance, and outdoor space — with the legal wrapping often used by established fortunes.
In October 2021, she married Nassar at her family’s North Salem horse farm—an estate her parents purchased after her graduation. Today, they have two childen.
Her mother, Melinda French Gates, has long framed parenting in practical, reality-focused terms.
In a 2025 profile for Elle’s Women of Impact issue, she said, “I just tried to keep them in the real world and point things out to them as much as possible,” explaining that her family encouraged conversations about how their upbringing differed from that of most people while insisting that children not develop an inflated sense of themselves.
That philosophy was reflected in letting their children choose which last name to use, and in the couple’s broader emphasis on education and responsibility.
Bill Gates has long signaled that his children will not be ushered into vast inheritances.
He has publicly said his children will receive less than one percent of his fortune, explaining that a windfall of that magnitude would not be a favor and that his resources are better directed toward philanthropic priorities. That stance situates Jennifer’s lifestyle within a family narrative that pairs substantial opportunity with an expectation of independent achievement.
