Bill Gates with his daughter Phoebe
Photo: Bill Gates/ Instagram
From humble beginnings to one of the richest tech billionaires in the world, Bill Gates‘ journey is nothing short of inspiring. And when your dad is Bill Gates, you’d think life would be a non-stop ride of luxury, freedom, and no rules. But 22-year-old Phoebe Gates, the youngest of his three kids, is here to tell a different story. In fact, growing up as a Gates’ kid came with it own set of strict rules— even if her billionaire dad didn’t always follow them himself, his youngest daughter Phoebe recently revealed!
On her new podcast titled ‘The Burnouts’, Phoebe Gates opened up about the pressures of being a “nepo baby” and how hard she tried to prove herself beyond the family name. Though she studied Human Biology at Stanford, in the podcast she confessed she often felt like she had to work twice as hard to feel like she belonged.
And while it is well known that her father, Bill Gates, took a leap of faith and dropped out of Harvard to build Microsoft, he made one thing very clear to Phoebe: That she was not allowed to do the same!
Bill Gates’ daughter Phoebe reveals the billionaire rule she couldn’t break in her podcast.
“You need to finish your degree; you don’t just get to drop out and start a company,” she recalls her parents telling her. And ironically, the rule came from Gates, whose dropout story became part of tech history and is spoken about even today!
How was it like growing-up as a Gates kid
Despite the unimaginable wealth, Phoebe further shared that her childhood as a Gates kid was very grounded and disciplined. She also shared that she was constantly reminded of the privilege she had. Now a college graduate and podcast host, she’s using her platform to talk about the stuff that really matters to young people— like burnout, pressure, identity, and the need to find your own path.
For the unversed, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates were married for 27 years before they officially announced their divorce in 2021. Bill and Melinda have three children together– Jennifer, Rory, and Phoebe. READ ALL ABOUT THE GATES KIDS HERE
Meanwhile, in one of his earlier posts on social media, Bill Gates had shared that he and his daughter Phoebe both share a great love for books, and that John Green was one of their favourite authors of all time.
