Bill Gates on why he didn't fund daughter's new business: 'Would have kept her...'

Bill Gates and his daughter Phoebe. (Image credit: AFP)

The entrepreneurial bug has bitten another Gates! Phoebe Gates, the youngest scion of billionaire philanthropists Bill and Melinda, has officially stepped into the business arena with a new shopping app, Phia, without any financial help from her father.

In an interview with The New York Times, the Microsoft co-founder spoke about why he did not fund Phebe's business. He said his initial thoughts when she geared up to launch her company were: "I thought, 'Oh boy, she's going to come and ask'."

While the elder Gates made it clear he would have supported his daughter financially, he also admitted that his support would have come with some strings attached and that would have made things complicated, he said.

"I would have kept her on a short leash and be doing business reviews, which I would have found tricky, and I probably would have been overly nice, but wondered if it was the right thing to do. Luckily, it never happened," Gates said.

Meanwhile, on The Burnouts, Phoebe revealed that her father was initially apprehensive about her plans.

"I literally never hear my dad talk about the start of Microsoft," she said. "I literally mostly just remember him talking about the foundation. I remember me wanting to start the company and him being like, 'Are you sure you want to do this?'"

Moreover, she spoke about her parents' reaction when she brought up dropping out of school. Both Bill and Melinda French Gates strongly felt that Phoebe needed to complete her education. "They were very much like, 'You need to finish your degree; you don't just get to like, drop out and do a company.' Which is so funny because my dad literally did that, and that's, like, the reason I'm able to go to Stanford or have my tuition paid," Phoebe said.