- Bill Gates‘ oldest daughter Jennifer announced her engagement via Instagram on Thursday.
- Jennifer Gates is known for being an accomplished equestrian – her fiancé, Nayel Nassar, is an equestrian as well.
- Nassar, an Egyptian-American born in Chicago, is a professional showjumper and Stanford graduate who is fluent in English, Arabic, and French.
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Jennifer Gates announced her engagement to longtime boyfriend Nayel Nassar via Instagram on Thursday. Dear old dad Bill Gates even commented that he is “completely thrilled!” about the news.
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The proposal took place on a ski getaway. “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,” she wrote on Instagram.
The pair does have one very significant shared passion – horses.
Nassar, 29, is a showjumper. Gates, 23, has famously grown up an equestrian, and has even competed against Steve Jobs' daughter.
"He's a professional, and I do this as an amateur. So to be able to share our love and passion for horses with each other is just incredible," Gates told CNN's EQ equestrian show of Nassar in July 2019.
In October, Nassar helped Egypt qualify for Tokyo 2020 - Egypt's first Olympic equestrian qualification in 60 years. He has been jumping since he was 10 years old and has the accolades to show for it - he has taken first place in a number of notable competitions, including the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup.
Nassar was born in Chicago to Egyptian parents and spent many of his formative years in Kuwait, where his well-to-do parents run an architecture and design firm, according to People. He is fluent in English, Arabic, and French.
He moved back to the US in 2009 and graduated from Stanford with an economics degree in 2013 - later, he supported Gates at her own Stanford graduation in 2018.
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The couple received well wishes from many on each of their Instagram posts, including comments from Bill and Melinda Gates, Georgina Bloomberg, and Eve Jobs.