When Malcolm Winters arrived in Genoa City Wisconsin in 1994, he came with one thing on his mind; a reconciliation with his successful older brother, Neil. The two brothers had a rocky relationship due to sibling rivalry growing up in Chicago. Neil was the 'A' student who went to collage on scholarships and became the up and coming executive. Malcolm was the star athlete with promise of sports scholarships until he blew out his knee playing football in his senior year, which ruined any hope of college. The charismatic Malcolm left home after graduating from high school and drifted from town to town, apparently living quite the wild life, while making money as a mechanic.

Neil wanted nothing to do with Malcolm because he couldn't get past his wild behavior in the past. Even though Malcolm insisted that he had changed his ways, Neil couldn't help but have his doubts. But not everyone turned their back on Malcolm. He managed to charm Neil’s wife Drucilla and her sister Dr. Olivia Hastings with his easy-going manner. With the influence of Drucilla whose childhood relationship with Olivia was identical to Malcolm's with Neil, Neil eventually decided to give his kid brother a second chance and even bought him an expensive wardrobe so that Malcolm could find a job in Genoa City. Knowing that Malcolm was in need of work, Dru, who worked as a model, helped him land a job as an assistant to Jabot Cosmetics photographer Alex Bladeson (Blade). Blade taught him photography, and Malcolm was a natural.

Malcolm only had eyes for Drucilla, but she eventually married his brother Neil. One night when Dru had taken a double dose of her cold medication which left her groggy, and Mal was asked to stop by and check on her, she mistook Mal for Neil, and invited him to her bed. After their love-making Malcolm realized he had made a terrible mistake and confided in Olivia. Dru made Malcolm swear that he would never mention what happened between them to anyone else, especially Neil. Nine months later Lily Winters was born. Dru convinced herself that the father of her child was Neil and forgave Malcolm. To keep her focus on her marriage, Dru got Olivia to fix Malcolm up with her attractive hospital colleague at the hospital, Stephanie Simmons. However, Stephanie's demanding schedule eventually caused their relationship to fall apart.

When Blade was killed by a train, Malcolm was shocked to find that he had inherited Blade's equipment and photo studio, and soon became the new Jabot photographer. Malcolm then met the beautiful Keesha Monroe at Gina's Place. After dating a couple of months, Malcolm discovered that the women he was falling for had had an affair with Olivia's husband, Nathan Hastings. Even worse, Keesha found she had been exposed to the HIV virus from her former boyfriend Stan. When Keesha's illness escalated to full-blown AIDS, the kind hearted Malcolm forgave her indiscretion with Nathan, and made her last days on earth happy ones. He even granted Keesha's dying wish, arranging a tearful wedding ceremony for them. After they exchanged vows, Keesha died.

Later, when Olivia's husband Nathan died in a car accident, Malcolm still grieving for Keesha, comforted Olivia and her young son Nate. Malcolm's grief turned to love and he asked Olivia to marry him. It took much persuading but she agreed. Not many people knew at the time, that Olivia had feelings for Malcolm's brother Neil. Drucilla even accused Liv of trying to steal her man! However, Olivia convinced her sister and herself that she didn't want Neil, then she married Malcolm. The couple had been married for about 2 years and Malcolm thought of little Nate as his own son, when the mysterious singer Callie Rogers drifted into town. Callie and Malcolm were lovers in the past, but her father broke them up by lying to Malcolm. Through a series of instances when Olivia couldn't decide if she trusted Mal, or if she even wanted him, she managed to drive him right into Callie's arms, and their marriage ended in divorce.

Malcolm moved in with Callie and they became engaged. But Callie turned out to be secretly still married to her agent Trey Stark. As Malcolm pressured her to marry him, Trey refused to let her go. Malcolm found out, and they ended up parting over her deception. Malcolm next was surprised when the now single, successful Paris model Drucilla turned up in Genoa City again. They had a brief affair, much to the disdain of her sister Liv and former husband Neil. But Dru went back to the runways of Paris with Lily in tow rather than settle down. Then Olivia decided that Mal was not a fit role model for her son, refused to let them see each other, and set her sights on Neil. Malcolm sued for visitation and won.

Malcolm's last love interest was Alex Perez, a successful lawyer with major commitment issues. Mal charmed her into loving him, moving in, and becoming engaged. But as usual, a growing attraction between Alex and brother Neil threatened to spoil Malcolm's plans. Just about the time that Neil was ready to confess his love to Alex, she agreed to marry Malcolm. Because she had committed to Malcolm, she spent months trying to keep her feelings for Neil from Malcolm and avoided Neil to avoid further temptation. Since his best friend Ryan McNeil was murdered, Neil began hitting the bottle pretty hard. In drunken frustration he admitted his love for Alex to Malcolm. Alex swore it was one-sided and hurried along her relationship with Malcolm, wanting to get married right away.

Despite the fact that the two brothers couldn't stand to be in the same room together, Neil was sent to Kenya with Alex and Malcolm to supervise a special photo shoot that Ryan had planned before his death. Malcolm overheard the two of them talking and Alex admit she had feelings for Neil. Malcolm concluded that what Neil had told him was true, that Alex had been dishonest with him about her feelings for Neil. But he didn't stay long enough to hear her proclaim she had made her choice, and loved and would marry Malcolm. Later a stunned Malcolm returned and slugged Neil, then took off for a location visit with their location manager, Isaac. As their vehicle was crossing a bridge, an oncoming truck created too much weight for it, and the bridge collapsed. Malcolm survived and rescued Isaac, then swam off to find their driver. Isaac saw more of the bridge fall on Malcolm. They searched for weeks, the driver's body was found, but not Malcolm's, so Alex and Neil reluctantly returned to Genoa City. They finally put the pieces together, with the help of Victoria, and realized that their conversation must have led Malcolm to his death. The guilt was too much for them both. Alex returned to Minneapolis, and Neil quit his job and turned to the bottle full time. Neil cleaned up his act and went on the wagon when ex-wife Drucilla returned from Paris with their daughter Lily, who needed a father.

Three years after he was declared dead, Malcolm showed up in Genoa City, very much alive, sporting cornrows and a bad attitude, out for revenge against the brother he thinks stole his fiancé and left him for dead in Kenya. Malcolm explained that a family took him in and nursed him back to health, then ended up having to take care of them. But now mostly he returned to see Nate again. Olivia is resentful that Malcolm didn't make himself known to Nate as soon as possible, sparing him the devastation of his death, and is making Malcolm wait to reveal himself until Nate returns from boarding school in England at the end of semester. Until then, Malcolm took a job as a waiter, and was later named Manager at Crimson Lights, and Olivia convinced him to stay in her extra bedroom. Malcolm hadn't forgotten the possibility that Lily might be his daughter, so Dru had a paternity test done. Although Lily found out that Dru and Uncle Malcolm had once been an item and wondered, when it turned out Malcolm really was Lily's father, they decided not to tell the truth to Lily or Neil.

Devon's birthday came around, but no one remembered it. Disappointed, but unwilling to tell anyone but his friend Sierra, he skipped school and headed for the zoo. Later that night when he was discovered missing, Sierra tipped them to check the zoo. Dru, Neil, Lily and Malcolm found a terrified Devon marooned in the lion habitat, eye to eye with a lion! Malcolm climbed down into the pit and used skills apparently learned in Africa to distract the lion while Devon climbed out with the help of Neil, followed by Malcolm. Lily and Devon brought around the SUV to pick them up, but she lost control when it skidded on the ice and struck Neil. Neil made up with Malcolm, asking him to take care of his family in case he didn't make it through surgery. He relieved guilt from Devon and Lily, and said goodbye to Dru. In the waiting room, Lily blamed Devon, so when Mrs. Davis arrived, he asked be put into a group home. Dru intervened and assured Devon that families were all about love and forgiveness. Neil needed blood, and Lily wanted to donate, but Malcolm insisted he be the one. Devon helped Lily see that Malcolm needed to give back to his brother to mend the relationship, but Malcolm was really more interested in the possibility that Neil was not Lily's father. Neil came through the surgery fine.

Lily fell for Daniel Romalotti like a ton of bricks! Dru fought it at every turn because her nemesis Phyllis Abbott was his mother. But through a tragic turn of events, [see Cassie Newman profile] Daniel was charged with vehicular manslaughter in the death of Cassie Newman. Lily couldn't be parted from her new love, so talked him into hiding out in the remote Abbott family playhouse. While the police, his mother, and a vengeful Nick Newman searched for him, Lily was visiting him and bringing him food right under their noses. Malcolm figured it out, and tried to get Lily to talk Daniel into giving himself up. But instead they ran away together in Lily's car and became fugitives from the law. (See Lily profile for conclusion.)

After Jill was named CEO of Jabot, she called on her old friend and co-worker Malcolm, to work for her as their Photographer to help return Jabot's look to a classy, state of the art company it once had when Malcolm used to freelance for them. Malcolm said yes on the condition that Lily would become the new Jabot teen model. Malcolm quit his job at Crimson Lights and was spending a lot of time out of town on photo shoots. Lily's true paternity has since come to light and Neil knows he is not Lily's father. But both Neil and Dru were unable to locate Malcolm at the time.

In December 2009, Malcolm showed up out of the blue in Lily's hospital room as she was fighting another infection cause by her cancer treatments. He explained that he had been on photo shoots in foreign lands, but had received her letter telling him she had married Cane, was aware and heartbroken over Dru's death, and had met Olivia at Heathrow Airport and found out about Lily's cancer. Neil took him to task outside Lily's room for his not keeping in touch, especially with Lily. But they since decided to bury the past for Lily's sake, and Malcolm accepted the photographer position with Restless Style, intending to stay in Genoa City. The day Malcolm took Lily for a PET scan, Cane was arrested for being in the country illegally. Lily skipped the procedure and met him at the jail where Cane admitted that even though he was married to a citizen, deportation was inevitable since he used Phillip’s identity, masquerading as a US citizen. Cane was found guilty and ordered deported. Lily promised to go with him, but he reminded her about her cancer therapy and their babies on the way. So when Lily got disappointing results from the PET scan, she lied and told Cane the cancer was gone so he would go ahead without her. But when it was time for Cane to be deported, she broke down and told Cane the truth, so of course he escaped. But just as he was apprehended, Michael saved the day with the news that he had arranged for Cane to stay legally because of Lily’s condition. Much to Malcolm’s delight, Lily’s Aunt Olivia, who was his former wife, finally arrived from Haiti where she was working with Doctors Without Borders and began helping Lily decide on her options to fight the cancer. Shocked to see Malcolm the first time in years, it was realized that Malcolm had not met Liv at Heathrow like he claimed. Neil and Malcolm became at odds again as Neil pressured him for more information, and as each tried to be a doting father to Lily Devon finally graduated with a degree in Music and was offered a good job in business. Neil was upset when he turned it down to work for Malcolm as his photography assistant for an income to support his music career. Neil felt that Devon should pursue a real career more befitting a college graduate.

A sonogram confirmed that the twins Mac was carrying were boy and girl. Olivia approached Lily with an experimental procedure using stem cells from the babies’ placentas that could save her life, but both Lily and Mac turned it down fearing it may harm the babies. Instead Lily left for Europe with Olivia to try an experimental procedure, without Cane who would not be allowed back in if he left the country. Cane then decided to sue Mac for the right to take the placenta fluid against their wishes. After Lily’s procedure failed, she returned and took part in the hearing, but when Cane saw her emotions and frailty on the witness stand, he dropped the lawsuit. The next day, Mac went into early labor, the twins Charlie and Matilda (Matty), were born two months premature, and their amniotic fluid was saved for Lily’s treatment. Lily and the twins stayed in the hospital all growing stronger, as she got her treatments. Meanwhile Mac shared with J.T. her guilty regrets and missing the babies.

Malcolm told Tucker he was done spying for him, and Tucker threatened to expose their dealings if he did not continue. About a month later, Sofia Dupre arrived from Europe and revealed that she was Tucker’s “right hand.” Neil took an instant dislike to her, only to find out that she was Malcolm’s mystery fiancé. Tucker then mentioned that Malcolm had quit working for him, but he wanted Sofia to remain in Genoa City and handle the deal he and Ashley were working on with Jack; whereby if he helped them acquire Newman’s Beauty of Nature Line, he could return to Jabot and run it with Ashley. Malcolm helped Sofia decide to take Tucker up on his offer, and Jack talked Tucker into giving him the job right away.

Lily was released from the hospital and welcomed home by the family who had unpacked all the baby gifts, and had their house all ready for them when they could come home. Cane and Lily visited the babies often, as deportation loomed closer for Cane once she got well. But Sofia saved the day by convincing Tucker to approve Cane as liaison with their corporate partner where Cane grew up in Canberra, Australia. Because Cane was uniquely qualified he obtained an eight month work visa. Cane and Lily eventually brought the twins home, and Lily’s health continued to improve. Lily asked Mac to be Godmother to the twins. When she turned her down explaining that she was getting too attached to them, Lily asked Traci, and she accepted in memory of Colleen. Devon felt honored to be the twin’s Godfather.

Malcolm and Sofia set a wedding date for Valentine’s Day 2011, and Neil agreed to be his best man. After Sofia kept her involvement with Cane embezzling from Tucker Enterprises from Malcolm, he told Sofia that you don't lie to people you love and leave them out of important decisions. He reminded her of the lies about Lily's paternity which caused him not to trust anyone. Then Malcolm and Sofia canceled their wedding. Sofia apologized to Neil for causing Cane's death, saying that Cane might still be alive if she had gone to Neil with what she had known. Neil told Sofia that she was not responsible, that what she did had been out of compassion for Cane and their family, and with the type of people who were after Cane, he could have died anyway, and Neil hugged her.

After surgery, Malcolm was there when Nate visited his cousin Lily to give condolences on the murder of her husband Cane. Neither Nate nor Malcolm was surprised to see each other, so viewers were left to assume that they have been in contact since Malcolm returned from the dead.

Tucker admitted to Malcolm how much he missed Sofia and that the bio-fuel project would probably end up being scrapped without her. Tucker and Malcolm agreed that maybe they had been a little rough on her. Yet when Neil repeated it to Malcolm, Malcolm replied that Sofia deserved to be fired. Neil and Sofia commiserated and ended up having sex on Neil's sofa. Malcolm showed up afterward, ready to forgive Sofia for lying to him. Neil went to Tucker and persuaded him to rehire Sofia. Meanwhile Malcolm and Sofia made up, and the engagement was back on.

Malcolm and Sofia were married in the same church where Cane was murdered, which was rough on Lily, Jill and Colin. Lily was matron of honor, Neil best man, and Tucker gave Sofia away. In attendance were Nate with his mother Olivia, Devon with Roxie, Ashley was there with Tucker, Leslie with Neil, Jill with Colin, and Daniel with Lily.

While on their honeymoon, Malcolm found a pregnancy test kit in Sofia's bag. He pushed her to take the test, the results were positive, and Malcolm phoned Neil to tell him the big news. Neil couldn't help but wonder if Sofia was pregnant by him, rather than by his brother. Seeing them together, hands touching and in deep discussion, Olivia guessed that Neil could be the father. Olivia confronted Sofia, who told her that as far as she was concerned the baby was Malcolm's. So they plotted to tell Neil an earlier due date to convince him that he could not be the father. Sofia was discovered to be Rh-negative after a pregnancy incident put her in the hospital. Because Neil was Rh-positive and Malcolm Rh-negative, there was a fifty-percent risk for her baby. So Sofia told Malcolm the truth -- that the baby might be Neil's. Malcolm moved to a room at the athletic club. Sofia spoke to her doctor, Olivia, about methods of finding out the paternity of her baby without risk to its life. Testing for Rh-factor symptoms showed none, so with the paternity still in question, they decided to wait until after the baby was born to test. But a sonogram showed that the baby would be a boy.

At the family birthday party for Lily, she noticed that Malcolm and Sofia appeared not be getting along. Sofia admitted that they were separated, and Neil confirmed that he might be the father of her baby. Lily, Daniel, and Devon were shocked considering how Lily herself was conceived.

Sofia went into labor and Malcolm took her to the hospital where she delivered a baby boy whom she named Moses, after Sofia's father. The long-awaited paternity test revealed that Neil finally had a son of his own. Later Malcolm presented Sofia with divorce papers, which she regretfully signed. Malcolm said goodbye to only Phyllis, and boarded a plane for Guam. Neil brought Sophia and their son home to live with him the next morning. They named their child Moses Depre Winters.

In September 2014, Malcolm was notified by his daughter Lily's husband Cane that Neil had been blinded by an electrical accident. Malcolm arrived in Genoa City from a photo shoot in Rio, on his way to another shoot in Virginia. Malcolm mentioned his sorrow that in his absence Mrs. Chancellor and Delia Abbott had died, and his old friend Phyllis had been in a coma for a year, the family saying that they emailed from time to time.

Left alone together, Neil recalled when Malcolm the "prodigal brother" first showed up Genoa City and had coveted his wife Dru, and Malcolm recalled how Neil had left him for dead in Kenya. Neil told Malcolm he didn’t need his pity. Malcolm said he only want best for him, to make peace, and that they were pretty even in what they had done to each other. Malcolm told Neil that he was being a brat, was stubborn and egotistical and needed to grow up. He hugged Neil and told him he loved him. Malcolm made Neil realize that he needed to face the fear that he may never see again, and feel lucky to be alive. To consider Hilary, who was young, if Neil was permanently blind, would she stay and take care of him? Malcolm told Neil that his many short marriages proved that he still had not dealt with loss of Dru, dead seven years. He convinced Neil to stop putting up walls with his family, and accept their help, and brought Neil to tears, admitting that he was scared of being blind forever. Malcolm made Neil promise no more self pity and denial, to embrace his adversity for those who count on him. When the family returned, Neil told them that together they can beat this, he loved them and was sorry for pushing everyone away. After dinner, Malcolm left, promising to send emails and photos. He hugged Lily, and asked them all to take care of Neil.

April 23, 2019, was the grand opening of Society, a new Genoa City restaurant venture by Devon and Abby Newman, featuring head chef Lola Rosales. Neil felt exhausted and laid down for a nap upstairs at Devon’s penthouse, promising to meet them there later. When Neil failed to show up, Devon went home to check on him. Devon came down his stairway in tears, having discovered that Neil had died of a stroke in his sleep. Everyone in Genoa City Neil whose life Neil had touched was saddened and shocked by the news of the death of their friend. Neil’s half sibling Malcolm arrived, saying they had loved each other as much as they had fought. Family and friends gathered for Neil’s funeral in tears, where his foster daughter Ana sang “Amazing Grace”. They shared remembrances and stories of how Neil had touched their lives and made them better. Neil and Malcolm’s former wife Sofia was there with their young son Moses. Lily tried to speak but got choked up. Malcolm took over, and off the cuff, gave a touching eulogy about how Neil was always dogging him, trying to make him a better man. Olivia was unable to attend, but through her son Nate sent a message that Neil was with Dru again, united forever. Everyone then gathered at Devon’s penthouse to celebrate Neil’s life, reminiscing, honoring, and playing his favorite jazz. Malcolm took a group photo. He ended it with a toast; “to Neil Ellis Winters, music lover, businessman, philanthropist, humanitarian, Neil’s will was read a month later by Michael Baldwin. Malcolm, who was not in attendance, was left the family photo albums, and Olivia a $100,000 donation to Doctors Without Borders and a sculpture. Ana was left Neil’s vinyl record collection. Moses was left a trust fund, a college fund, and a stipend for Sofia. Jack announced that the Abbott-Winters foundation was erecting a building with Neil’s name on it.