Latest news with #Phia
News.com.au
15-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Bill Gates' daughter, Phoebe Gates, under fire over ‘insulting' business message
Bill Gates' daughter has been publicly called out by a popular online creator and luxury brand expert over a 'disrespectful' message he received from her new business. Phoebe Gates, the youngest daughter of tech billionaire Bill Gates and Melinda Gates, recently started her own company, Phia, alongside her co-founder and former Stanford University roommate, Sophia Kianni. Phia is an app and mobile browsing extension that aims to help shoppers find the best value for items online. The idea is that, once shoppers have found the product they want to compare, Phia will scour the web and compare new and second-hand listings for the same and similar items. The app went live late last month and boasts an impressive list of investors and advisers, including Kris Jenner, Spanx founder Sara Blakely, and media executive and former president of Honey, Joanne Bradford. The 22-year-old Ms Gates and 23-year-old Ms Kianni have also been on a promotional spree, appearing on the well-known Call Her Daddy podcast, conducting an interview with Ms Jenner and receiving a profile in The New York Times. But not everyone is impressed with the new business venture, or with some of the ways Ms Gates and Ms Kianni are supposedly trying to ramp up publicity. A popular online creator and luxury brand deals expert, Jarrod Jenkins, has called out Phia and it's founders, claiming he was asked to work for 'free' to promote the business. Mr Jenkins describes himself as a luxury brand strategist and boasts over 54,000 followers on TikTok, where he talks about high-end fashion and often compares the prices of similar products. 'Let's talk about how Bill Gates' daughter disrespected me,' Mr Jenkins said in a recent TikTok video. 'So Bill Gates' daughter reaches out to me, I don't know her, but she knows I am a luxury deal expert.' The creator shared a message seemingly sent from the Phia business page about a week before it's launch. In it, the person sending the message explained 'my company @ is launching at the end of the month', before going on to say they 'would love' to give Mr Jenkins early access so that he can share his thoughts with his 'community' when the app goes live. Mr Jenkins claimed he was asked to do this 'for free', noting that this is a service he would usually charge thousands of dollars for. 'She didn't even subscribe to my substack, that's $5 a month, $30 a year and they just signed up for the free tier,' he said. The creator then shared his response, in which he said that if he had been contacted 'well in advance' of the launch, he would have advised Ms Gates and Ms Kianni not to go live with the product. 'I actually downloaded the app and it is absolutely worthless,' Mr Jenkins said, claiming the app recommends entirely different products or products in a different condition to the one being searched. In his experience, he found the app focused on the item description rather than the image and didn't include enough boutiques. In his response, Mr Jenkins offered to serve as an adviser for Phia moving forward, but claims he never received a response. 'Phoebe Gates and her co-founder Sophia aren't trying to sell an actual product, they are trying to sell vibes and business rizz,' he said. 'They want all the publicity, none of the work.' Mr Jenkins' video has been viewed more than 67,000 times and has gained hundreds of comments, with people unimpressed by Ms Gates' business tactics. 'Free is so wildly insulting. Why do rich people do this? Every regular, non-wealthy person I've ever worked for as a freelancer has compensated me,' one person said. 'For FREE?????? & her parents are WHO?!!??!??' another wrote. Many claimed this was stereotypical nepo baby and 'rich kid behaviour', while others were shocked at the 'audacity' of asking someone to work for free. One person wrote: 'I'm so tired of privileged kids entering the fashion space and not putting in the work or at least HIRING & PAYING people who will put in the work.' 'In this shaky economy, billionaire's daughter reaching out like this is so out of touch,' another added.
Daily Mail
14-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Bill Gates' daughter Phoebe, 22, sparks outrage with 'rich kid behavior'
Bill Gates ' daughter Phoebe Gates has sparked outrage with her 'rich kid behavior.' The 22-year-old Stanford University grad - along with former roommate Sophia Kianni - recently launched an e-commerce startup app called Phia. The platform, which went live on April 24, offers shoppers an easy way to compare the prices of new and used items across more than 40,000 selling sites. Phoebe is doing it all without the help of her billionaire father who recently revealed that he was 'worried' his youngest daughter would ask for money to start her new venture after cutting her inheritance. 'I thought, "Oh boy, she's going to come and ask,"' the Microsoft founder, 69, told the New York Times. 'And then I would have kept her on a short leash and be doing business reviews, which I would have found tricky, and I probably would have been overly nice but wondered if it was the right thing to do? Luckily, it never happened.' Instead, Phoebe raised the capital independently, first getting $100,000 from Soma Capital, then $250,000 from the Stanford social entrepreneurship grant, and finally $500,000 in angel investments, bringing the total to $850,000. But in a TikTok that is beginning to circulate, one content creator shared how she had apparently 'disrespected' him. The platform, which went live on April 24, offers shoppers an easy way to compare the prices of new and used items across more than 40,000 selling sites TikTok user Jarrod Jenkins is known for being a luxury deals expert and discusses high-end fashion news and history on his page. In a video posted on March 12, he claimed that Phoebe's business page reached out asking him to review the product and share his thoughts with his followers - for free. '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, showing the message he had received. In a scathing response, Jenkins replied to the note to explain that had she reached out before the launch of the app, he would have advised her not to go live with the project yet. He then explained that Phia has some room for improvement, including the fact that it recommends entirely different products or products in a different condition than searched, focuses on the item description instead of the image and doesn't include enough boutiques. 'I actually downloaded the app and it's absolutely worthless,' Jenkins said. But he reached back out saying that he would serve as an advisor - to which he never received a response. Users on TikTok and Reddit slammed Gates, saying she was exhibiting typical 'rich kid behavior.' 'Phoebe Gates and her co-founder Sophia aren't trying to sell an actual product - they're trying to sell vibes and "business rizz,"' Jenkins claimed. He went on to discuss how much publicity the two are getting regardless, including an interview with Kris Jenner, appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, and profile in the New York Times. 'For FREE?????? and her parents are WHO?!!??!??' one TikTok user wrote in response to the claims. 'THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS AND CALLING THEM OUT,' another 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.' And the backlash poured onto Reddit too, where someone posted a link to the TikTok under the r/NYCinfluencersnark thread. Users jumped to call Phoebe out for her stereotypical 'rich kid behavior.' Others even argued that despite her dad not investing, being the child of Bill Gates means already being set up for success, despite whether you are talented or not. '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.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Taobao and Tmall Deepen Ties With Xiaohongshu Via Cross-platform Shopping Function
Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba's core e-commerce business, is joining forces with China's popular social commerce platform Xiaohongshu, or Rednote, in an effort to boost online sales amid a structural economic slowdown. The cross-platform shopping function, which allows users to click on purchase links embedded within Xiaohongshu posts that can then be redirected to the Taobao app, will help bridge content and commerce and offer consumers a seamless path from product discovery to purchase, according to Alibaba. More from WWD Once Secretive Textile Firm Fortuny Opens Up With Works by Pierre Sabatier, Harumi Klossowska de Rola Zalando Sees Opportunity in U.S. Tariffs and TikTok Shop Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni Launch Shopping Tool Phia to Answer Top Consumer Question: 'Should I Buy This?' 'This collaboration with Xiaohongshu marks a new chapter in our support for brand growth in 2025,' said Liu Bo, vice president of Alibaba Group and president of Tmall. According to Alibaba, the partnership also includes the launch of joint merchant accounts and performance dashboards, allowing brands to gain insights into the consumer journey and monitor return on investment in real time. 'To further support merchant success, Taobao and Tmall will invest in amplifying hero products featured in Xiaohongshu posts, providing marketing resources and performance advertising tools to boost product visibility and engagement,' Alibaba added in a statement. The program, which began grey-scale testing late last month, already yielded meaningful outcomes for brands. According to data from the luxury consulting group Digital Luxury Group, the tool helped boost ROI for beauty brands by as much as 150 percent, while fashion brands reached as much as 250 percent. 'Some luxury maisons have achieved spectacular results — Chopard doubled their advertising ROl, while the Chinese cosmetics brand Kans reached an astounding 800 percent ROl,' explained Jacques Roizen, managing director of consulting at DLG. 'For years, the influence of Xiaohongshu on Chinese luxury consumers has been undeniable, yet quantifying its direct impact on sales has remained a persistent challenge for global brands operating in China,' Roizen said. According to Roizen, the tool will allow brands to better monitor the consumer decision process. 'Monitoring the full 30-day post-campaign window is essential, 40 percent of Tmall conversions happen after seven days [of shoppers seeing the campaign], while JD conversions can take even longer — 40 percent after 15 days,' he added. By the end of May, which will likely align with the kickoff of this year's 618, China's biggest mid-year online shopping festival, the integration tool will expand to include more consumer goods categories, such as health care and sportswear. For Tom Zhang, associate partner at Prophet Consulting, the new partnership will trigger a major shakeup for the Xiaohongshu influencer ecosystem. 'It will become immediately clear who can truly drive sales, who's good at creating buzz and whether that buzz can actually be converted,' Zhang said. 'At the same time, a new dynamic will offer help brands identify different growth paths. They can choose to compete for traffic through advertising, or double down on strengthening their brand and content,' Zhang added. The two platforms began working together on content-driven commerce in 2023, focusing on measuring content seeding effectiveness and performance, according to Alibaba. In the past year, the platforms have partnered with industry peers to broaden payment and logistics services. Best of WWD Macy's Is Closing 66 Stores in 2025 — Here's the List, Live Updates Inside the Demise of Lord & Taylor COVID-19 Spikes Elevate Retail Concerns Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Phoebe Gates Recalls Hilarious Moment on Night Out with Boyfriend's Family — Which Included Grandfather Paul McCartney
Phoebe Gates is expanding her musical horizons. During a Wednesday, April 30, appearance on Call Her Daddy, the daughter of Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, recalled a hilarious moment out with her boyfriend, Arthur Donald's family — which includes his grandfather, Paul McCartney. While chatting with host Alex Cooper and business partner Sophia Kianni to promote their shopping app called Phia, Cooper, 30, asked Phoebe, 22, if she was a "Beatles person." "Oh man, it's so bad. Like, I'm so bad at music," Phoebe admitted. "I mean, my family like, we're so nerdy, so I knew nothing about music. I knew about tech stuff growing up, not music stuff." Related: Phoebe Gates Graduates College — and Gives Parents Bill and Melinda a Shout-Out: 'So Grateful' "So I remember like early on he was like so excited, like he thought he was going to rizz me, he took me to an Elton John concert," Phoebe continued. "And Elton John comes out in like a bedazzled track suit. I'm like, 'Is Elton John gay?' His entire family starts dying laughing." Phoebe added that she had been with Donald, 26, for "almost two years" but every time she sees his family, they joke about the incident. John, 78, known for his vibrant style, has been with his husband David Furnish for over three decades. is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! Phoebe also touched on Donald's musical talent. "Unfortunately, Arthur does not have any musical talent. I've been trying to get him to serenade me for a very long time but it has not happened." Phoebe and Donald, who is the son of McCartney's daughter Mary, have kept details about their relationship to themselves. Phoebe shared a picture of them together in Paris in October 2023. Related: Phoebe Gates Shares Funny Story About Seeing Her College Roommate 'Butt A-- Naked': 'It Is Scarred Into My Retina' While they attended the Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans premiere together in January 2024, months later in an April 2024 interview with Bustle, she didn't comment on her relationship status. She also featured a picture of him giving her a piggyback ride for NYLON's Graduation Diary series in June 2024. In the caption, she called Donald, who is the eldest of McCartney's grandchildren, her "boyfriend." Read the original article on People
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Investors are still asking female founders about their future kids — even at a Gates startup
Phoebe Gates, 22, is not a typical entrepreneur. She's the daughter of Bill and Melinda Gates and a Stanford University graduate navigating the minefield of Silicon Valley fundraising. Yet even with her last name, she has had to field the same tired questions that have plagued women for decades — questions like how having kids will impact their careers. Gates and Sophia Kianni co-founded Phia, an AI-powered app that compares fashion prices for shoppers. According to Fortune, when investors pressed her and her co-founder Sophia Kianni about their plans for starting families, Gates turned to her mother for advice. 'Get up or get out of the game,' was Melinda Gates' response. While you may not have a Melinda Gates in your life to call on, recent studies show that gender stereotypes continue to persist far beyond the rarefied world of fundraising conversations between founders and investors. At a time when even some of the most privileged women in America are still forced to play by rules written in another era, experts say it's up to the rest of us to rewrite those rules, one uncomfortable conversation at a time. 'Despite the progress we've made, outdated assumptions about women's long-term commitment to work — particularly around motherhood — continue to surface in subtle and not-so-subtle ways,' Eloïse Eonnet, head career coach at The Muse, told Salon. 'In my work with women leaders, I still hear stories of being asked in interviews how they'll 'manage it all,' or being passed over for roles based on the possibility they might have children.' The data backs her up: The Muse's 2024 Women's Workplace Experience Report found that 42% of women have encountered gender-biased or inappropriate questions during the hiring process, with C-suite women facing it at even higher rates. 'These questions aren't driven by true curiosity, they're about bias in disguise and they often stem from narrow definitions of leadership and rigid assumptions about what success looks like,' Eonnet said. 'If we want to build inclusive organizations, we have to interrogate not just what's being asked but why it's still being asked in the first place.' The so-called 'motherhood penalty' is well documented, according to Iris Bohnet, professor and co-director of the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School. 'Research by sociologist Shelley Correll and colleagues shows that mothers are perceived as less competent and less committed to their jobs, less likely to be hired or promoted and paid less than women without children or men,' Bohnet said. The broader trend is not encouraging. According to Fairygodboss's 2025 Women in the Workplace Survey, 79% of women believe that recent moves by companies and the federal government to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives will negatively impact opportunities for women, according to the data shared by the company with Salon. The same survey found that women with higher education levels are especially concerned that leadership and mentorship opportunities will dwindle. What's the way forward? Bohnet's advice is blunt. 'First, I would give the employer advice not to ask such personal, and often illegal and discriminatory, questions,' she said. 'Our first priority has to be to build workplaces where all can thrive.' When it comes to female students, she advises them to prepare well. 'Be aware of the stereotypes that are still out there, and come well-prepared for pitches, salary negotiations and the like. It is good to know and demonstrate one's worth through an outside offer, past accomplishments or brilliant ideas — and stay focused on what you bring to the table.' While documenting your accomplishments is solid advice, Eonnet takes this advice a step further, encouraging women to remain committed to their values in the face of persistent bias and be discerning about where — and with whom — they choose to invest their talents. 'If you're in an environment that routinely questions your commitment or potential because of your gender or life choices, that's not a reflection of your capability — it's a reflection of that person or organization's limitations,' she noted. 'Surround yourself with spaces and people who recognize that leadership is expansive — not defined by outdated norms, but shaped by impact, integrity and vision.'
