Melinda French Gates Declines to Invest in Daughter's Fashion-Tech Startup

Melinda French Gates, whose net worth is estimated at $34.5 billion, told attendees at the Power of Women’s Sports Summit that she would not provide capital to her daughter's fashion-tech startup, Phia, arguing that a real business must attract funding without family connections. She said the move is intended to teach her child to cope with possible rejection and to prove the venture’s merit to external investors. This approach mirrors Bill Gates’s earlier statement that their children will inherit less than 1 % of his fortune, underscoring a long-standing belief in self-sufficiency.

Phoebe Gates, the youngest Gates child, co-founded Phia with Stanford roommate Sophia Kianni; the platform aggregates price data from over 40,000 online retailers to help shoppers find the best deals. Melinda French Gates highlighted that female founders face especially steep funding hurdles, noting that resilience learned from setbacks is a common thread among successful women she profiles on her YouTube series. Tennis legend Billie Jean King, speaking alongside French Gates, praised the value of learning from criticism rather than fearing failure.