Melinda French Gates reveals she’s refusing to fund her Gen Z daughter’s new startup—despite being worth nearly $31 billion

SEE FULL BIOMicrosoft cofounder Bill Gates has long warned that his kids won’t be coasting off his fortune—and Melinda French Gates is making sure of it, by insisting her daughter raises capital on her own

Chip Somodevilla—Getty ImagesMicrosoft cofounder Bill Gates has said that his children will inherit “less than 1%” of his wealth when he eventually passes away

But even while their parents are a, the Gates children won’t be coasting off the family fortune—and Melinda French Gates is making sure of it, starting with saying no to funding her daughter’s new startup

I wouldn’t put money into it. ” Her reasoning

If this is a “real ”, she said, then others need to be willing to back it

And more importantly, her daughter should learn how to navigate the sting of rejection if it doesn’t get that funding. “That’s what I told her,” French Gates added. “She’s growing from this. ” It’s a stance that echoes her and Bill Gates’ long-standing apach to wealth

And while the 60-year-old mother didn’t reveal which daughter she was referring to, their youngest, Phoebe, recently launched a fashion- startup, Phia, with her Stanford roommate, Sophia Kianni

The importance of failing for female founders For French Gates, insisting her daughter forge her own fundraising path isn’t just tough love or even self-sufficiency—it’s helping her develop grit and the ability to weather rejection in an unequal system

After all, the philanthropist said that it’s the one common thread connecting the successful women who appear on her YouTube series, Moments That Make Us. “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. ” Still today, French Gates—who has spent over two decades advocating for women’s empowerment—says female founders have to develop sharper elbows than their male counterparts if they want to survive the startup world. “It is very, very hard to get your funded if you’re a woman,” she said. “And so you do have to learn a bit how to have the courage to play the game and to stick with it. ” Tennis legend Billie Jean King, who was on stage alongside her, agreed—and praised the growth that comes from setbacks. “To your point, your daughter has figured out how to get this first started—that’s amazing. “I don’t think it’ll ever fail, she’ll get back from every situation. ” In fact, King says she’s banned the word failure altogether from her lingo—and discourages those working around her from using it either. “When people start thinking failure, it’s a very negative feeling,” she exclusively told Fortune. “Turn it inside out by asking yourself, what’s the back I’m getting from this. ” With just 2. 3% of global venture capital going to female-founding teams last year, they’re not wrong: The few female founders who do finally break through will have turned failure into fuel

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