Bill Gates’ daughter Phoebe accidentally reveals dad’s medical diagnosis in rare glimpse into billionaire’s private life

Bill Gates’ daughter Phoebe joined Alex Cooper on her smash-hit Call Her Daddy podcast on Wednesday, letting slip that her father has Asperger’s Syndrome, classified as part of the Autism Spectrum.

The 22-year-old was discussing how tough it was when she brought boys home to meet her parents when she revealed that Bill often struggled in social situations.

Father-daughter duo

© Getty Images

“My dad is pretty socially awkward. He’s said he, you know, has Asperger’s,” Phoebe told the host. 

“Bringing a guy home is terrifying for the guy. It’s also kind of hilarious for me,” she continued. “It’s so funny. But for guys, I think they get really wigged out.” 

She then launched into a hilarious story about her dad’s reaction to her prom date. 

© Getty Images

“I’ll never forget early in high school before I had a long-term boyfriend, it was like one of my first dances, maybe my sophomore or junior year, and my mom had signed my dad up to drive me and the boy to the dance together,” Phoebe recalled. 

The former Stanford student added that Bill stopped for fast food and called her date by the wrong name during the drive. “[I] literally wanted to die,” she said. 

“But honestly, I think now, it’s become easier for me because it’s just funny when you introduce a guy to your dad, depending on how he reacts, that’s how you know if he’s gonna be a good guy or not.”

In his own words

© dpa/picture alliance via Getty I

While the billionaire has confirmed the diagnosis, he alluded to it in his 2023 memoir Source Code, explaining that he would likely be diagnosed with autism if he were from a younger generation.

“I was a hyper-focused kid. I would get so lost in what I was doing, I’d forget to eat,” he wrote. “I probably would’ve been diagnosed [with autism] today, and that’s not a bad thing — it’s part of who I am.”

He later shared in an interview with Axios that he was different from his classmates growing up. “I always knew I was different in ways that confused people in terms of my energy level and intensity, and going off and just studying things,” he said. 

© Corbis via Getty Images

“And it’s a little confusing when you’re a kid, that you’re different, or people react to you in some ways, or your social skills — you’re miscuing on various things.” 

He continued: “I definitely think my parents, maybe somewhat unintentionally, because there was no diagnosis, but the way they would explain things to me or push me to socialize was very helpful.”

Working the room 

© Instagram

Phoebe then explained on the podcast how she had to force her father to socialize with her friends’ parents at group events due to his reserved nature. 

“It used to be a joke [that] our family would be so boring if I wasn’t born. I had forced my dad, like at the dad-daughter dances my mom would have us go to, I would force my dad to go talk to all the other dads and daughters there,” she recounted. “I was like, ‘No. If we’re here, we’re gonna socialize. We’ve gotta work this room, Bill.'” 

Phoebe is the youngest of Bill’s three children, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates. They are also the proud parents of Jennifer, 29, and Rory, 25, and grandparents to Jennifer’s kids Leila and Mia.

To learn more about Bill and Melinda’s three children, see below…