Melinda French Gates Reveals Why She Won't Fund Her Daughter's Startup, Says Others Should Back It If Its A 'Real Business'

Melinda French Gates says she will not bankroll her daughter's new fashion-tech venture, arguing that the startup must prove itself the same way any "real business" does.

What Happened: "She got capitalized not because of my contacts, not because of me," the billionaire philanthropist told the Power of Women's Sports Summit, according to Fortune. "I wouldn't put money into it," she added, insisting her daughter learn how to navigate the sting of rejection on her own.

The stance echoes ex-husband Bill Gates' long-held pledge that their three children will inherit "less than 1%" of his fortune and must "make their own way."

French Gates, whose net worth exceeds $30 billion, told the audience a real venture must attract outside backers and become resilient through rejection

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Though French Gates did not name which daughter, 22-year-old Phoebe Gates recently launched Phia, an AI-powered platform that compares prices from 40,000 retailers. Phia's seed round, roughly $850,000 so far, came from Soma Capital, a Stanford social-impact grant and angel investors, not family money. Celebrity backers such as Kris Jenner have since joined.

Why It Matters: French Gates said the tough-love approach is especially critical for women in tech, where just 2.3% of global venture capital went to all-female founding teams last year. "It is very, very hard to get your business funded if you're a woman," she warned.

Tennis legend Billie Jean King, seated beside her, agreed, saying, “To your point, like your daughter has figured out how to get this first business started — that's amazing. I don't think it'll ever fail—she'll get feedback from every situation.

Phoebe Gates has embraced that mantra, telling a podcast recently that investor skepticism about her age and future motherhood left her in tears until her mom advised, "Get up or get out of the game, sis."

Photo Courtesy: ibragimova on Shutterstock.com

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