A billionaire and co-founder of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates may be among the world's richest philanthropists, but when it comes to their 23-year-old daughter Phoebe's first company, the only thing they offered was advice, not cash.

Phoebe Gates Builds $8 Million Fashion-Tech Startup

Before launching her AI-powered fashion-tech startup Phia, Phoebe Gates asked her parents for guidance. 

Their advice wasn't about money, but about people. "The people that you build with, who you're at the office until 1 a.m. with--even, it comes down to the summer intern you have…that's what's actually going to define whether the product succeeds," she told Fortune's Term Sheet podcast last week.

Since debuting in April 2025, Phia, created with Stanford roommate Sophia Kianni, has attracted more than 500,000 users and 5,000 brand partnerships, as reported by Fortune. 

The $8 million seed round was led by Kleiner Perkins and included Hailey Bieber, Kris Jenner, Sheryl Sandberg, Sara Blakely, and others.

Melinda French Gates Explains Why She Refused To Invest In Daughter's Business

Despite her vast fortune, Melinda Gates drew a hard line. "She got capitalized not because of my contacts, not because of me. I wouldn't put money into it," she said in June at the Power of Women's Sports Summit. "If this is a real business, then others need to be willing to back it."

Bill Gates has echoed that philosophy, stressing his children will inherit less than 1% of his wealth.

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Last month, Gates explained his problem-solving approach in a 2020 blog post titled "The Buzz Stops Here." He said he had relied on the same method since his teenage years, which helped him address major challenges, including the pandemic at the time.

Gates noted that he asked himself two key questions: "Who has dealt with this problem well? And what can we learn from them?" He stressed that while the questions seemed simple, finding answers and applying them effectively was often difficult. "They seem like obvious questions, but sometimes it's surprisingly hard to find the answers," he wrote.

However, Gates' problem-solving style stemmed from early habits, particularly his passion for reading, which he credited as central to his success. While at Harvard, he struggled with procrastination but eventually overcame it, showing his ability to confront personal challenges. His achievements, however, were not just about intelligence.

Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL) co-founder Larry Ellison once pointed out that Gates' focus and perseverance were equally critical in driving innovation and sustaining long-term success.

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.

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