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Bill Gates is set to leave his three children a staggering $500 million each despite previously insisting they would be given a ‘minuscule’ portion of his wealth.
The Microsoft founder told the Raj Shamani podcast that he would be bequeathing kids Jennifer, 28, Rory, 25, and Phoebe, 22, less than one percent of his fortune.
But with a net worth of $149 billion per Bloomberg, the relatively small portion still equates to a massive sum.
‘My kids got a great upbringing and education, but less than one percent of the total wealth because I decided it wouldn’t be a favor to them,’ Gates said.
‘It’s not a dynasty, I’m not asking them to run Microsoft. I want to give them a chance to have their own earnings and success.’
The billionaire suggested to DailyMail.com in 2011 that he would be leaving his children around $10 million.
‘It will be a minuscule portion of my wealth,’ he said. ‘It will mean they will have to be their own way.
At that time, the tech mogul’s fortune was around $56 billion.
Bill Gates is set to leave his three children a staggering $500 million each despite previously insisting they would be given a ‘minuscule’ portion of his wealth
Gates (pictured with daughters Jennifer, center, and Phoebe) previously suggested he would leave his kids around $10 million
Today, Gates is the sixth richest man in the world. However, he plans to give away a lot of his wealth to charitable causes.
He and his ex-wife Melinda French have long been up front with their children about their inheritance and have tried to model their philanthropic values through their non-profit the Gates Foundation.
‘You don’t want your kids to ever be confused about your support for them and your love for them,’ Gates told the podcast.
‘So I do think explaining early on your philosophy, that you’re going to treat them all equally and give them incredible opportunities, but that the highest calling for these resources is to go back to the neediest through the foundation.’
Gates’s youngest daughter recently opened up about how her ‘privileged nepo baby’ status gave rise to feelings of intense insecurity throughout her student years.
The 22-year-old, who studied Human Biology at California’s Stanford University and graduated last year, discussed her father’s extraordinary success and the pressure that brings on her new podcast, The Burnouts.
‘I had so much insecurity and such a desire to prove myself at Stanford,’ she said.
‘I came in, I was like, ”I’m so privileged, I’m a nepo baby”, like I had so much insecurity around that. I feel it’s so hard when you’re a freshman in college because you have no experience. You have nothing.’
He and ex-wife Melinda (pictured with son Rory) hope to instill a sense of hard work in their three children which means they don’t want them to rely on generational wealth
But with a net worth of $149 billion per Bloomberg, the relatively small portion still equates to a massive sum. Pictured: Gates’ sprawling Seattle estate
Despite her billionaire father’s gravitas, the graduate, who is dating Sir Paul McCartney’s grandson, Arthur Donald, said she was ‘flat-out rejected’ from a business class after devising her first pitch, Bluetooth tampons, giving women health status updates throughout their periods.
‘This was our first big failure of many, many, many,’ Phoebe admitted. ‘I don’t think it’s really a shocker that we got flat-out rejected from this class – they asked us, ”What problem does this solve? How would it make money?” We couldn’t answer those questions.’
Gates’ only son Rory reportedly works as a congressional analyst whilst completing a a doctorate, according to Business Insider.
His oldest child Jennifer attended medical school and is completing her residency in New York.
She recently welcomed her second child with husband Nayel Nassar. Their daughter Mia was born on their third wedding anniversary and is a younger sister to their first child Leila.
Gates has not disclosed how much inheritance, if any, his grandchildren will receive.
