Bill Gates' daughter Phoebe says he didn't want her to drop out of college to start her business like him

Phoebe Gates' digital fashion startup, Phia, is still in the pre-launch stage, but promises “a new way to shop online.”

Bill Gates' daughter Phoebe Gates said that the Microsoft co-founder didn't want her to drop out of college to start her business the same way he did.

When she originally mentioned the idea of starting her company, her parents told her that “You need to finish your degree; you don't just get to like drop out and do a company.” (Phoebe Gates (@phoebegates))

When she originally mentioned the idea of starting her company, her parents told her that “You need to finish your degree; you don't just get to like drop out and do a company.”

She said that this "is so funny because my dad literally did that and that's the reason I'm able to go to Stanford or have my tuition paid,” while speaking on her new podcast, 'The Burnouts,' along with her cohost Sophia Kianni.

They were talking about the journey of launching their digital fashion startup, Phia, in the premiere episode which first aired on April 1.

The company promises "a new way to shop online," though not much more information is available on it, apart from the fact that it is still in the pre-launch stage.

Phoebe Gates went on to graduate with a degree in human biology from Stanford University last year. She said that she always felt a strong need to prove herself, because of her background.

Phoebe Gates further added that she mostly never hears her dad talk about the start of Microsoft, which involved him dropping out of Harvard University and that she mostly just remembers him talking about their foundation.

She is the youngest daughter of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, who got divorced in 2021 after 27 years of marriage. Jennifer and Rory Gates are her two older siblings.

"I knew I had to make it happen if I could, because I wanted to watch my mother deliver this year's commencement speech as a graduate," Gates had previously told in an interview with NYLON last June.

Bill Gates, who is currently the sixth-richest person in the world with a net worth of $149 billion, had said that his kids would inherit less than 1 per cent of his wealth since he wanted “to give them a chance to have their own earnings and success.”