Billionaire Bill Gates's surprising move when his daughter starts a business

(Dan Tri) - Billionaire Bill Gates revealed that he was haunted by the thought that his daughter would ask him for investment money to start a business every time they met.

Billionaire Bill Gates and his ex-wife both refuse to give their children money to start a business.

Phoebe Gates, the youngest daughter of billionaire Bill Gates, is starting a fashion business with a project called Phia. Phia is an application that compares prices of new and used fashion products from more than 40,000 e-commerce sites. Phoebe Gates (22 years old) and a friend are working on this startup project.

Although she is the daughter of billionaire Bill Gates, Phoebe is determined not to use her parents' money to carry out this project.

Phoebe Gates with her father - billionaire Bill Gates (Photo: DM).

After graduating with a degree in human biology from Stanford University (USA), Phoebe and her friend successfully raised $850,000 from investors and startup support funds. They also received advice from many famous female entrepreneurs.

Sharing in a recent interview with the New York Times (USA), billionaire Bill Gates humorously revealed: "When Phoebe started her startup project, every time I saw her appear, I thought to myself: She must be asking for money soon."

Although he is willing to financially support his children to start a business, this billionaire said that as an investor, he will have to keep all business activities under control, which means closely following his children's business situation, giving suggestions and advice, not "giving them whatever they lack".

For him, this was not easy. According to Bill Gates, the fact that his daughter did not ask him for investment money was a blessing, making him breathe a sigh of relief.

His ex-wife, Melinda Gates, was more decisive. She openly encouraged her daughter to raise capital to gain experience.

Phoebe Gates with her mother - Melinda Gates (Photo: DM).

The Phia app has officially launched, providing free services to users. Phoebe seeks revenue through fashion products in collaboration with brands to prioritize introducing to app users.

Currently, Phoebe and Sophia also host a talk show series called The Burnouts , which talks about young women's experiences in work and life.

Recently, Phoebe frankly shared that she was criticized by a group of netizens, after she talked about the difficulties and challenges she encountered during the process of starting a business.

Phoebe confided: "If I succeed, people will say it's because I have family support, which is partly true. But this way of thinking also puts me under a lot of pressure because of my background."

Phoebe Gates reveals billionaire Bill Gates has Asperger's syndrome

On her latest talk show The Burnouts , Phoebe Gates also revealed that billionaire Bill Gates has Asperger's syndrome, a disorder on the autism spectrum. This is the first time anyone in the Gates family has publicly mentioned a diagnosis related to Bill Gates' health.

However, Bill has previously shared that he sees himself as having many characteristics on the autism spectrum. Phoebe revealed: "My father is quite awkward in communication. He once said that he had Asperger's syndrome. So every time I bring my boyfriend home to meet my family, it will be a very stressful experience for my boyfriend, but for me, it is a funny experience."

Phoebe still remembers a "nervous and funny" experience when billionaire Bill Gates offered to personally drive his daughter and her boyfriend to a high school prom. During the entire drive, billionaire Bill Gates was silent, didn't talk, he just listened to... the news.

Billionaire Bill Gates shared with his children that he has Asperger's syndrome (Photo: DM).

In his memoir Source Code , published this year, billionaire Bill Gates shared that when he was a child, mental health issues were not as important as they are today. If he had grown up in this era, he would likely have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder.

Bill Gates said in his memoir that he had difficulty with social interactions. He was also so absorbed in his own interests that he forgot to eat and sleep. These are all typical characteristics of Asperger's syndrome.

In an interview with Axios (USA), billionaire Bill Gates also revealed that he felt different from a young age, which made him very confused. "I didn't understand why I always made other people react in strange ways, or why I often misunderstood the social signals that other people gave," Bill said.

Although billionaire Bill Gates has not responded to his daughter's revelation, Phoebe's sharing is considered to contribute to promoting a more correct view of high-functioning autism.

These are mental health issues that more and more celebrities are openly admitting to. Billionaire Elon Musk, for example, has come out publicly about his Asperger's syndrome.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/dong-thai-bat-ngo-cua-ty-phu-bill-gates-khi-con-gai-bat-dau-khoi-nghiep-20250508181128228.htm