Time March 16–23, 20202005 PERSON OF THE YEAR
Melinda Gates
Good samaritan
There was a certain amount of muttering
when Melinda Gates appeared alongside
her husband Bill and U2 front man Bono
as TIME’s Persons of the Year in 2005.
Wasn’t she just a wife? A hobbyist spend-
ing the money her husband made? Did
she really deserve this, even if the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation had, in the
magazine’s words, “spent the year giv-
ing more money away faster than any-
one ever”? The years since have proved
the mutterers mistaken, as Gates has
become an ever more committed and
shrewd philanthropist, embedding her-
self both in the field and in the data to
make bold decisions not only to spend
but also to invest. Yes, she has been half
of a team, but over 20 years that team
has given away more than $50 billion,
and persuaded governments and other
billionaires—hello, Warren Buffett!—to
join them. In 2012, she realized family
planning was key to improving wom-
en’s lives, and spearheaded the Gates
Foundation’s funding of this area. Since
then, contraceptives have been given to
more than 20 million women who had
none before. In 2005, TIME chose the
cover trio for “making mercy smarter
and hope strategic and then daring the
rest of us to follow.” Gates is still doing
just that. —Belinda LuscombeWINFREY, DURING THE FAMOUS
‘YOU GET A CAR’ EPISODE
2000 s2004
Oprah Winfrey
Empire builder
By the time Oprah Winfrey became the first black woman to
make it onto the Forbes billionaire list, in 2003, she was al-
ready the most successful talk-show host in TV history and
a producer, media mogul, actor, author and philanthropist
of unparalleled cultural clout. But it wasn’t until the follow-
ing year, when she gave away Pontiacs to her entire studio
audience, that she ascended to something like secular-saint
status— despite facing some backlash over the hefty gift taxes
recipients had to pay. “You get a car! You get a car! Everybody
gets a car!” became shorthand for any modern miracle.
That Oprah magic has only grown since 2004. A recipi-
ent of accolades, from a Peabody to a Kennedy Center Honor,
she gave a crucial early endorsement to Barack Obama. In
2011, she wrapped her 26-year-old talk show and launched
cable network OWN; last fall saw the revival of her power-
house book club as part of a multiyear Apple TV+ deal. She
may never heed the call of pundits who wish she’d run for
President. Yet when political discourse and pop culture so
often cater to the lowest common denominator, Oprah’s signa-
ture fusion of entertainment, education and social conscience
remains a vital appeal to our best selves. —Judy Berman
86 WINFREY: GEORGE BURNS—HARPO, INC.; GATES: JUSTIN SULLIVAN—GETTY IMAGES