The youngest daughter of exes Bill and Melinda Gates, Phoebe Gates, has been happily dating Arthur Donald for nearly two years — but they have one major (and ongoing) disagreement about her apartment decor.
In a Thursday, April 24, The New York Times profile, the outlet reported that Phoebe, 22, said that Donald, 26, “hates” a painting of a pink cassette tape that she previously picked up at a market for $20.
According to Phoebe, her boyfriend always “takes the painting off the wall” and they are now attempting to find a replacement to hang up instead.
Phoebe lives in New York City, while Donald is based in California. They have been together since 2023 after meeting through Donald’s aunt, Stella McCartney. Arthur is the eldest son of Mary McCartney, Stella’s sister and one of the children of Sir Paul McCartney, and her husband, Alistair Donald. (Mary, 55, and Alistair, 59, also share son Eliot, 21.)
In addition to her steady relationship, Phoebe is focused on growing her Phia fashion start-up and “The Burnouts” podcast without any family connections or influence.
“Growing up, I realized that people are always going to have thoughts about me,” she told The Times. “If the business is successful, people will say, ‘It’s because of her family.’ And a huge portion of that is true. I never would have been able to go to Stanford, or have such an amazing upbringing or feel the drive to do something, if it wasn’t for my parents, but I also feel a huge amount of internalized pressure.”
Phoebe also clapped back at the notion that her last name was the sole reason Phia got its funding or Alex Cooper signed “The Burnouts” to her Unwell network. (Phoebe works on both projects with business partner Sophia Kianni.)
“We’re roommates fighting about clothing. We are the girls who are scouring shopping sites for deals,” she quipped to the newspaper. “And there are, frankly, thousands of other young women like us.”
Bill, 69, further noted to The Times that Phoebe is his child who is “the most different than” he is. (Bill and ex-wife Melinda, 60, also share daughter Jennifer, 29, and son Rory, 25.)
“She’s so good with people,” the Microsoft founder explained. “When we would go on family vacations, we would find some part of the beach to just be off on our own, and Phoebe would go down the beach and meet people and bring them back to introduce them to us.”
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