Melinda Gates' Tough Love: Refusing to Fund Her Daughter's Startup
"BILLIONAIRE MELINDA FRENCH GATES REFUSES TO GIVE HER DAUGHTER A HANDOUT: 'SHE'S GOT TO LEARN TO FLY ON HER OWN WINGS'"
In a shocking revelation, philanthropist Melinda French Gates has confessed that she refused to give her daughter Phoebe Gates a dime to help fund her fashion tech startup, despite having a net worth of over $30 billion. Yes, you read that right! The 60-year-old mom-of-three, who shares three children with ex-husband Bill Gates, has spoken out about the challenges of being a parent and an investor in her daughter's entrepreneurial endeavors.
Phoebe, 22, co-founded Phia, a digital fashion platform that uses AI to help users compare prices of new and second-hand items across numerous e-commerce websites. While many would assume that Melinda would be more than happy to dip into her vast fortune to support her daughter's business venture, she has revealed that she took a different approach.
"I wouldn't put money into it," Melinda confessed at the Power of Women's Sports Summit presented by e.l.f. Beauty. "If it was a real business, then it would need other investors willing to back it."
But why would Melinda choose not to support her own daughter's startup? It seems that she wants Phoebe to learn from her mistakes and navigate rejection if she isn't able to get the funding she needs.
"That's what I told her," Melinda explained. "She's growing from this."
And it looks like Phoebe has taken Melinda's advice to heart, raising the capital independently through various means, including a $100,000 investment from Soma Capital, a $250,000 grant from Stanford social entrepreneurship, and angel investments totaling $500,000.
But even with her daughter's entrepreneurial success, Melinda has been open about the challenges of parenting. In a recent episode of the How to Fail with Elizabeth Day podcast, she revealed that one of her first big "failures" happened at home during an interaction with Phoebe.
"I had not just a little bit raised my voice," Melinda confessed. "I'd really raised my voice, and I knew I was in the wrong."
It seems that even billionaires like Melinda French Gates are not immune to losing their temper! And it's clear that she has learned from her mistakes, recognizing the importance of apologizing and making amends when things go awry.
As for Phoebe's dad, Bill Gates, he's been keeping a close eye on his daughter's business ventures. In May, it was revealed that he was "worried" about Phoebe asking him for money to start her new venture after cutting her inheritance.
"I thought, 'Oh boy, she's going to come and ask,'" Bill said in an interview with thescholarlynote.com. "'And then I would have kept her on a short leash and be doing business reviews, which I would have found tricky, and I probably would have been overly nice but wondered if it was the right thing to do?' Luckily, it never happened."
It seems that Melinda's approach has paid off, as Phoebe is now thriving in the world of entrepreneurship. And who knows? Maybe one day she'll be a billionaire in her own right!
For more news and updates on Melinda French Gates and her family, keep reading thescholarlynote.com!