Reject financial aid and connections! Melinda talks about why she won't invest in her daughter's startup

Melinda French Gates, the ex-wife of former richest man Bill Gates. (AP)

[Financial Channel/Comprehensive Report] Melinda French Gates, the ex-wife of Bill Gates, an American billionaire and philanthropist, has a net worth of tens of billions of dollars. However, when her daughter founded a new start-up company, she deliberately chose not to invest or use her connections to help her daughter obtain funds. Melinda personally revealed the reasons behind it.

According to foreign media reports, Melinda is currently worth US$34.5 billion (approximately NT$1.1 trillion). She said at a summit in London, England, "The reason why she (daughter) was able to obtain funds was not because of my connections, nor because of me. I will not invest money in it." She believes that letting her daughter experience success and rejection in the fundraising process is an important part of her growth.

She said that if this is a "real business", there should be other investors willing to support it, and her daughter must also learn how to say "no" to investors. Melinda believes that if she directly takes money or uses connections to pave the way for her daughter, she may lose the opportunity to learn from setbacks. She said, "This is what I told her, she is growing from these experiences."

Although Melinda Gates did not directly name her daughter at the event, it is generally believed that she was talking about her youngest daughter Phoebe Gates. Phoebe co-founded Phia, a fashion technology startup with her roommate at Stanford University, to create a shopping platform powered by artificial intelligence that allows consumers to compare products, prices and offers from different retailers.

Melinda's choice to let her daughter start her own business is also similar to her ex-husband Bill Gates's philosophy when talking about the inheritance of wealth for his children in the past. Bill Gates has said that the inheritance his three children will receive in the future will be less than 1% of his personal wealth. He believes that leaving a large amount of money to children is not necessarily helping them. He hopes that children can create income and achievements by their own abilities.

Bill Gates has said in the past, "This is not a dynasty. I didn't ask them to run Microsoft. I want to give them a chance to have their own income and success." For billionaire families, how to let the next generation build their own careers outside of their huge wealth and family connections is obviously another test.

Melinda also pointed out that female entrepreneurs face more difficulties in the fundraising process, so they need to have the courage to endure rejection and persevere. "If you're a woman, it's really, really difficult to get funding for your business," she said. She stressed that entrepreneurs must have "the courage to play the game and stick with it."