- Melinda French Gates says she and MacKenzie Scott have a lot in common beyond their philanthropic work.
- According to The New York Times, French Gates said she and Scott have similar views on raising children.
- French Gates said she doesn't want to pamper her children, lest they become spoiled and selfish.
Melinda French Gates and MacKenzie Scott have a lot in common besides the fact that they were both once married to billionaire tech moguls.
In an interview with The New York Times published on Sunday, French Gates revealed that she and Scott have similar parenting styles.
French Gates told The Times that she and her then-husband, Bill Gates, didn't want their children to grow up spoiled and arrogant.
“Firstly, the children had pocket money so we never bought them anything without their permission. They had to buy it with their pocket money or put it on their wish list so they could get it from their grandparents or from us for birthdays or Christmas,” she said.
French Gates said she felt this parenting style was a “good principle to have,” but was encouraged to know she wasn't the only billionaire spouse who followed this approach.
“And again, Mackenzie has been helpful to me through this because I have a little bit of insight into how she parented and I've found that we actually have pretty similar mindsets,” she told The Times.
“We weren't as close as we were back then, but it was literally around the corner from where I live and I knew we were going to raise our kids in essentially the same way,” she continued.
It's not just parenting: After divorcing their ex-husbands, Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, respectively, French and Scott have both committed themselves to social and philanthropic work.
“I have a lot of respect for what she does. She has inspired me in philanthropy and I hope I can be an influence on her,” French Gates told The Times.
Their advocacy and philanthropy has even drawn criticism from Elon Musk.
Musk accused both women of being billionaire ex-wives who are trying to bring about the “collapse of Western civilization.”
In March, Scott donated $640 million to 361 nonprofits, just weeks after Musk slammed her charitable efforts. The massive donation was more than the $250 million she initially pledged to give last year.
French Gates, meanwhile, came under Musk's criticism after endorsing President Joe Biden in June, and has since endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, who is expected to succeed Biden as the Democratic nominee after Biden dropped out of the race this month.
“I thought his criticism was ridiculous,” French Gates said of Musk's criticism, according to The New York Times, before firing back at outspoken tech executives like himself.
“For years I've watched technology leaders get interviewed about their parenting styles, and you'll see a guy spend 60 hours a week at the company and you're sure he's a great CEO and has done a great job at the company. Maybe he is, maybe he's not,” she said.
“But when I ask them about parenting, they talk about so many different things that I think something is wrong,” she added.
Representatives for French Gates and Scott did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment sent outside normal business hours.
