Bill Gates Has a New First Love

Microsoft Corp. Chairman William H. Gates III, the wealthiest person in America, is no longer the nation’s most eligible bachelor.

Gates, 37, became engaged over the weekend to 28-year-old Melinda French, a Dallas-born product manager, a spokesman at Microsoft said.

They have been dating off and on for five years.

No date has been set for the marriage, the spokesman said.

French joined Microsoft in 1987. She is now product manager of Publisher, a low-end desktop publishing program.