Bill Gates’ daughter: ‘Friends stopped playing with me because of vaccine conspiracy theories involving dad’

As one of the richest people in the world, Bill Gates is a familiar name. Today, let’s learn about his youngest daughter, 22-year-old Phoebe Gates.

Through her social media pages, Phoebe Gates has shared her life with hundreds of thousands of followers, from her views on national issues to her milk tea date videos with her father.

With parents Bill and Melinda Gates, it’s no surprise that Phoebe Gates has achieved high academic results. This month, Phoebe Gates graduated from Stanford University (USA) after completing a 3-year program. She revealed about founding Phia – a sustainable fashion technology platform and attending fashion weeks around the world.

In addition, Phoebe Gates is also an outspoken social activist, sharing her views on reproductive rights and gender equality with her followers on social media.

Another notable point is that Phoebe Gates is dating Arthur Donald, the nephew of Paul McCartney. Paul McCartney is one of the greatest musical legends of all time, most famous for his role as a founding member and lead singer of The Beatles.

Conspiracy theories about Phoebe Gates’ father have been circulating online for years, sometimes extending from the internet into his everyday life.

The most popular of these conspiracy theories links Bill Gates to COVID-19. One popular misinformation circulating online: “The COVID-19 pandemic is a cover for Bill Gates to put microchips in vaccines to track people.”

Phoebe Gates says these rumors have even damaged some of her personal relationships.

 

In Netflix’s latest documentary series about the Microsoft co-founder, What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates, which premiered on September 18, Bill Gates asked his daughter if she had ever come across conspiracy theories about him.

“All the time. I’ve even had friends cut me off because of these vaccine rumors,” Phoebe Gates replied.

“I need to learn more because I’m still naive enough to believe that digital media can be a force to bring us closer together, to have rational debate,” Bill Gates said.

A graduate of Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in human biology, Pheobe Gates said she is interested in communicating accurate medical information effectively.

Phoebe Gates said one thing her father doesn’t understand is that many people use social media not to find accurate or rational information, but mainly to entertain themselves or escape the stresses of everyday life.

Bill Gates then asked his daughter where conspiracy theories, such as his involvement in the COVID-19 vaccine, really come from? For Phoebe Gates, they stem from fear.

“During lockdown, no one knew who to trust or what to believe,” she said.

“The pandemic has definitely been the worst time for social media, showing its most negative aspects, especially in making complex issues, like pandemics and health measures, too simple, leading to misunderstandings and conspiracy theories,” Bill Gates commented.

In late August, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific, the former Microsoft CEO addressed a viral conspiracy theory that he was behind a plan to implant tracking microchips into people during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You have to have a sense of humour. A lot of people say I want to track them, but why would I?” Bill Gates said of conspiracy theories.

The 68-year-old billionaire said people have confronted him on the street, shouted at him and made accusations. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I really don’t want to know where you stand,'” he said.

Conspiracy theories linking Bill Gates to COVID-19 began to circulate early in the pandemic, and he has addressed the issue more than once.

In 2022, Bill Gates said he never expected to be the subject of widespread misinformation.

“Some of the information, like I’m putting a chip in someone’s arm, doesn’t make sense. Why would I want to do that?” he posted on social media X.

Bill Gates told The Life Scientific that many people are still paying the price for how the world handled the COVID-19 pandemic.

“In terms of deaths, mental health, loss of knowledge, and loved ones who have passed away, we’re still paying the price for not handling it well,” the 68-year-old American billionaire emphasized.

Active in charity and wants the super-rich to pay more taxes

Bill Gates is currently the sixth richest person in the world with a net worth of $161 billion, according to Bloomberg, although he has donated part of his fortune to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which he founded in 2000.

Bill Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda Gates (who divorced in May 2021), were inspired to do charity after reading an article about hundreds of thousands of children dying from diarrhea in poor parts of the world. Since then, they have promoted global health programs with support from governments and charities, every