Growing up in one of the richest families in the world definitely has its advantages, and Jennifer Gates, Bill Gates’ oldest daughter, recognizes this.
“I was born in a situation of enormous privilege,” Gates, 24, who goes by the nickname Jenn, told Sidelines magazine in a recent interview.
“I think it’s about using those opportunities and learning from them to find things that I’m passionate about and I hope they make the world a little better place.”
Bill Gates, who co-founded Microsoft as a teenager after leaving Harvard, became the world’s richest man in 1995, a year before Jenn Gates was born, with a fortune of $ 12.9 billion, according to NPR. Gates is currently the second richest person in the world, with a net worth of around $ 112 billion.
Gates plans to use that privilege to do good, at least in part, with a career in medicine, perhaps as a pediatrician or family doctor. After graduating from Stanford University in 2018, Gates is now heading into his second year as a medical student at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. (The New York Post reported that Bill and Melinda purchased a $ 5 million home from Gates on Fifth Avenue adjacent to the campus in 2017.)
Gates says her parents who took her work home may have influenced her decision to become a doctor.
After her parents founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, whose mission is to improve the health and quality of life of people around the world, “I grew up hearing about infant mortality at the table, about polio, about the epidemic HIV / AIDS. ” Gates said.
As a child, her mother even surprised her by informing one of her dolls that she was HIV positive. (It was then that Melinda decided that she and Bill were talking “too much about global health at the table,” Gates said.)
Gates, who is also an accomplished equestrian and took time off after Stanford to compete, says his parents are very supportive of his goals.
Jennifer Gates of USA walks the grounds before participating in the Cascais CSI5 Global Champions League final against the clock team and the individual jumping competition on the final day of the Longines Global Champions Tour on July 8, 2017 in Cascais, Portugal. Gates, daughter of Bill Gates, is ranked 50 on the Longines Global Champions Tour 2017.
(Photo by Horacio Villalobos – Corbis / Corbis via Getty Images)
“They have always supported me,” he told Sidelines. “When I was younger, they told me to look for what interested me, whether it was math or science or reading or writing. I always felt that I really had a good foundation with them believing in me and willing to support me in any of my activities.”
Gates also called his parents “incredibly hardworking people. Obviously they have had many privileges, but they continue to learn and are passionate about making the world a better place.” The Gates Foundation, for example, has contributed more than $ 50 billion to global health and development, U.S. education and other causes to date, including $ 335 million to fight Covid-19, he said. a spokesperson for Gates at CNBC Make It.
“I think that’s really cool, and it’s definitely rubbed off on me as I find my way to my own passions,” Gates said.
In a Instagram post on Father’s Day, Gates wrote that not only his father’s dedication to philanthropy, but also his passion for learning has been an inspiration.
But it’s also the little things: She also thanked him for making TikTok videos with her.
At the New York Times DealBook event in November, Bill admitted that he trusts his children (Jenn Gates has siblings Rory, 21, and Phoebe, 17) to help him stay calm and humble.
He said he likes to take them to school and tries to communicate with each of them through his “preferred” social media platform rather than via email, which he prefers.
“I have to check Instagram because my youngest daughter likes to communicate there [and] I have to check WhatsApp because another kid likes to communicate through it, “said Gates.
If he doesn’t comply with his children’s requests, they accuse him of “not paying attention” to their lives, he said.
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