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Melinda French Gates may be one of the wealthiest women in the world, with an estimated $34.5 billion net worth, but you won\u2019t catch her writing checks for her daughter\u2019s new startup.<\/p>\n
In fact, the billionaire philanthropist and ex-wife of Bill Gates explained last year at the Power of Women\u2019s Sports Summit presented by E.l.f. Beauty that she watched her daughter fundraise from the sidelines, on purpose. <\/p>\n
\u201cShe got capitalized not because of my contacts, not because of me. I wouldn\u2019t put money into it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Her reasoning? If this is a \u201creal business,\u201d she said, then others need to be willing to back it. And more important, her daughter should learn how to navigate the sting of rejection if it doesn\u2019t get that funding. \u201cThat\u2019s what I told her,\u201d French Gates added. \u201cShe\u2019s growing from this.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a stance that echoes her and Bill Gates\u2019 long-standing approach to wealth. The Microsoft cofounder previously revealed their children would inherit \u201cless than 1%\u201d of his fortune when he eventually passes away\u2014insisting they make their own way in the world.<\/p>\n
And while the 62-year-old mother didn\u2019t reveal which daughter she was referring to, their youngest, Phoebe, launched a fashion-tech startup, Phia, with her Stanford roommate, Sophia Kianni. The platform compares clothing prices from over 40,000 sites to help users find the best deals. Back in April 2025, the then 22-year-old \u201cnepo baby\u201d revealed that her parents wouldn\u2019t let her drop out of the prestigious university to launch a startup, like her dad did. It\u2019s garnered attention recently for taking credit for sales it didn\u2019t drive.<\/p>\n
The importance of failing for female founders<\/p>\n
For French Gates, insisting her daughter forge her own fundraising path isn\u2019t just about tough love or even self-sufficiency\u2014it\u2019s about helping her develop grit and the ability to weather rejection in an unequal system.<\/p>\n
After all, the philanthropist said, it\u2019s the one common thread connecting the successful women who appear on her YouTube series, Moments That Make Us.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw that going through something difficult changed all of them, and that they had to learn to find resilience somewhere,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd in finding that resilience, they found themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still today, French Gates\u2014who has spent more than two decades advocating for women\u2019s empowerment\u2014says female founders have to develop sharper elbows than their male counterparts if they want to survive in the startup world.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very, very hard to get your business funded if you\u2019re a woman,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd so you do have to learn a bit how to have the courage to play the game and to stick with it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tennis legend Billie Jean King, who was onstage alongside her, agreed\u2014and praised the growth that comes from setbacks: \u201cTo your point, like your daughter has figured out how to get this first business started\u2014that\u2019s amazing. I don\u2019t think it\u2019ll ever fail\u2014she\u2019ll get feedback from every situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
In fact, King said, she\u2019s banned the word \u201cfailure\u201d altogether from her lingo\u2014and discourages those working around her from using it too. \u201cWhen people start thinking about failure, it\u2019s a very negative feeling,\u201d she exclusively told Fortune. \u201cTurn it inside out by asking yourself, \u2018What\u2019s the feedback I\u2019m getting from this?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
With just 2.3% of global venture capital going to female founding teams last year, they\u2019re not wrong: The few female founders who do finally break through will have turned failure into fuel.<\/p>\n
A version of this story originally published on\u00a0Fortune.com\u00a0on\u00a0July 8, 2025.<\/p>\n
Read more career advice from Fortune\u2019s Orianna Rosa Royle:<\/p>\n
#billion #net #worth #Melinda #French #Gates #refused #fund #Gen #daughters #startup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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