Melinda Gates has shared the brutal reason she refuses to invest in her daughter's business startup.
With a fortune worth $30.8 billion, Melinda French Gates could easily bankroll any business venture her daughter dreams up.
However, following the same philosophy that led her ex-husband, Bill Gates, to announce that their children would inherit 'less than 1%' of his fortune, she's determined that her kids won't rely on family wealth to succeed.
The Microsoft co-founder's ex-wife recently opened up about her tough-love and hands-off wealth approach to parenting at the Power of Women's Sports Summit.
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French Gates explained why she believes the best thing she can do for her daughter when it comes to funding her entrepreneurial dreams is absolutely nothing.
“I have a daughter who just started a business this year,” the 60-year-old mother explained at the Summit. “She got capitalised not because of my contacts, not because of me. I wouldn’t put money into it.”
French Gates made it clear that her refusal to invest wasn't about lacking confidence in her daughter's abilities but about ensuring she developed the skills necessary to succeed in an unforgiving business world. If her daughter's business is 'real,' then other investors should be willing to back it.
“That’s what I told her,” French Gates added. “She’s growing from this.”
While the billionaire philanthropist didn't specify which of her children she was referring to during her speech, the timing suggests she's talking about her youngest daughter, Phoebe. The young entrepreneur recently launched Phia, a fashion-tech startup that she co-founded with her Stanford University roommate, Sophia Kianni.
French Gates' perspective seemingly comes from years of observing successful women through her philanthropic work and media projects. She hosts a YouTube series called 'Moments That Make Us,' which features stories of accomplished women, and she's noticed a pattern among her guests.
“I saw that going through something difficult changed all of them and that they had to learn to find resilience somewhere,” she said. “And in finding that resilience, they found themselves.”
Spending over two decades advocating for women's empowerment, French Gates understands the extra challenges female entrepreneurs face.
“It is very, very hard to get your business funded if you’re a woman,” she added. “And so you do have to learn a bit how to have the courage to play the game and to stick with it.”
According to an analysis of global venture capital deployment, only 2.3% of global venture capital funding went to female founding teams last year ($6.7 billion) whilst 83.6% supported all-male founding teams ($241.9 billion).