Tech billionaire Bill Gates’ youngest daughter Phoebe criticized for 'rich kid behavior' over unpaid app promotion request

Jarrod Jenkins, known for his expertise in luxury fashion deals and history, shared in a March 12 TikTok video that Phoebe’s team contacted him requesting a free review and promotion of her e-commerce app, Phia, according to the Daily Mail.

'Mind you, this is a service that I would charge thousands of dollars for, and she didn't even subscribe to my Substack that's $5 a month, $30 a year,' Jenkins said.

Jenkins responded critically, saying that if she had consulted him before launching the app, he would have advised against it.

Phoebe, 22, launched Phia on April 24 with former Stanford roommate Sophia Kianni, 23. The app uses artificial intelligence to help users compare prices of new and secondhand items from over 40,000 retail websites.

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

Despite the buzz around the launch, Jenkins criticized the app’s performance, saying it returned irrelevant results, prioritized text over images, and lacked boutique listings. "I actually downloaded the app, and it’s absolutely worthless," he said, though he offered to serve as an advisor—an offer he said went unanswered.

Online reactions quickly followed, with many accusing Phoebe of displaying "rich kid behavior."

"For FREE?????? And her parents are WHO?!!??!??" one TikTok user wrote.

"I'm so tired of privileged kids entering the fashion space and not putting in the work or at least HIRING and PAYING people who will put in the work," another added.

Others argued that even without financial backing from her father, simply being Bill Gates’s daughter gives Phoebe a built-in advantage, regardless of her talent.

'Yes but having BILL GATES as your dad sure helps get Kris Jenner's attention, whether he gave her money or not...' one user wrote.

'Rich kids doing rich kid s**t,' another wrote. 'Pathetic.'

Phoebe has said she launched Phia without any funding from her father, while Bill Gates has publicly stated he was glad she did not ask him for funding, according to Business Insider.