'Tough, but privileged': Bill Gates’ youngest daughter Phoebe on growing up in her billionaire parents’ shadow

Speaking on the Call Her Daddy podcast hosted by Alex Cooper, the 22-year-old shared her perspective on navigating life under the spotlight and the challenge of building an identity independent of her parents. When asked whether she found it difficult to step out of her father's shadow, Phoebe replied: "Yeah, I think 100%," according to InStyle.

She acknowledged the complexity of her position, saying: "That’s difficult, but it comes with so much privilege, right?"

Phoebe pointed out that she was fortunate to have access to opportunities many others don’t. "I didn’t have to fight for a scholarship in college. I knew my college was gonna be paid for. I had incredible opportunities because of my parents."

"If I didn’t have my parents as my rock, I wouldn’t have been able to have these incredible opportunities, so yes," she admitted.

Tech billionaire Bill Gates and his youngest daughter Phoebe Gates. Photo from Instagram

Despite this, she acknowledged the complexity of living in the public eye, saying, "I am in my parents’ shadows, and it is gonna be tough to make a name for myself.

"I had to learn very early on who were true friends, who weren’t true friends, but honestly, I think all in all, I have an incredibly privileged life."

She made it clear that while it may not always be easy, she would not call it a "hardship." "Because it’s like I’ve been so blessed with what I’ve been given by my parents and I’m never gonna pretend I haven’t been."

In a segment where Cooper asked how she dealt with people who doubted her or reduced her success to being merely Gates’ daughter, Phoebe responded with a piece of advice: "Fake it till you make it."

"If I feel like I am my own person stepping into that room, because frankly, once you get inside a room, it doesn’t matter how you got here," she added.

Phoebe, 22, and her Stanford roommate and business partner, Sophia Kianni, 23, co-launched "The Burnouts" podcast in April, focusing on empowering Gen Z female entrepreneurs.

The two also launched Phia, a shopping app powered by AI, which aggregates secondhand and retail fashion listings from across the internet. Phoebe emphasized that Phia is an independent venture and is not financially supported by her billionaire parents.