Bill Gates’ daughter Phoebe says she feels ‘internalized pressure’ to succeed amid nepo baby criticisms

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates’ youngest daughter, Phoebe, has opened up about how much pressure she feels to succeed, given her parents’ careers.

Phoebe and her former college roommate, Sophia Kianni, just launched their own business, Phia, an app that compares the prices of items being sold online to help shoppers save time and money. From jewelry to clothes, the app tells users if something is overpriced, before showing them a cheaper version of the item.

However, the 22-year-old confessed that given her famous parents, she knew from a young age that people would make comments about her career choices.

“Growing up, I realized that people are always going to have thoughts about me,” she said during an interview with The New York Times, published Thursday. “If the business is successful, people will say, ‘It’s because of her family.’”

“And a huge portion of that is true. I never would have been able to go to Stanford, or have such an amazing upbringing, or feel the drive to do something, if it wasn’t for my parents,” she continued. “But I also feel a huge amount of internalized pressure.”

She said she’s expecting people to assume her famous last name got her business investors, including a venture capital firm, and networks of mentors, like reality star Kris Jenner. Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper also agreed to sign Phoebe and Sophia to her podcast company, as the pair will be launching their own podcast, The Burnouts with Phoebe and Sophia.

Despite the expected criticism, Phoebe mainly focused on having a business based on what she’s most passionate about.

“We’re roommates fighting about clothing. We are the girls who are scouring shopping sites for deals. And there are, frankly, thousands of other young women like us,” she said.

Phoebe’s business endeavor comes as her father, the co-founder of Microsoft, was ranked the 13th richest billionaire, according to Forbes. According to the publication, Bill currently has a net worth of $107.6 billion.

Bill confessed that when he first learned about Phoebe’s interest in entering the e-commerce space, he had his concerns.

“Wow, a lot of people have tried, and there’s some big guys in there,” he recalled telling his daughter during the Times interview, noting he was worried she needed money. “I thought, ‘Oh boy, she’s going to come and ask.’”

Although he said he would have helped fund Phia if he needed to, it would be under certain conditions. “And then I would have kept her on a short leash and be doing business reviews, which I would have found tricky, and I probably would have been overly nice but wondered if it was the right thing to do? Luckily, it never happened,” he added.

Meanwhile, Phoebe said that when her mother heard about the business, she was urged to secure venture backing and the money from investors she needed on her own.

“She saw it as a real opportunity for me to, like, learn and fail,” Phoebe said of Melinda.

Along with Phoebe, Bill and Melinda, who divorced in 2021, have two other children, Jennifer, 28, and Rory, 25. But Bill has been extremely open about the fact that his children won’t inherit all this wealth one day. During an appearance on the Figuring Out With Raj Shamani podcast last month, Bill reiterated how much of his money he’ll pass down to his children.

“My kids got a great upbringing and education, but less than 1 percent of the total wealth because I decided it wouldn’t be a favor to them,” he said. “It’s not a dynasty. I’m not asking them to run Microsoft. I want to give them a chance to have their own earnings and success. You know, be significant and not overshadowed by the incredible luck and good fortune I had.”