What is everyday life like for children whose parents are among the richest people in the world? What values do the super-rich rely on when raising their children? Some of the most famous billionaires share their secrets as parents. What is striking: there are few concessions when it comes to screen time.
1. Mark Zuckerberg: clear rules, little screen time
The Facebook CEO and his wife Priscilla Chan have two daughters together: Maxima and August. In the Zuckerberg house there are clear rules for the girls: they must help around the house, for example with the dishwasher, and they only have limited screen time. “I don't want my children to sit in front of the television or computer for a long time,” says the billionaire.
It's also important for the couple not to just fulfill their daughters' every wish. “We don't give them everything. I think that's an important aspect,” Zuckerberg said. Maxima and August should also get to know their parents' jobs: “Mark and I take them both to work, to the office,” Priscilla Chan said in an interview, “so they can see what we do and what our contribution is.”
2. Warren Buffet: down to earth
Billionaire Warren Buffet has three grown children. When it came to their upbringing, it was especially important for him to be down-to-earth: “Our kids grew up pretty normally. I mean, she and I have only ever lived in one house in my life that I owned, and I bought it in 1958,” Buffett told Forbes in 2013.
Buffett is famous for the fact that, despite his enormous success, he still lives in the house in Nebraska that he bought for $31,000. “So my children didn’t see us moving into fancier and fancier houses. They didn’t travel on private planes. They took the bus to school,” Buffett said. “Every member of the Buffett family in Omaha attended public school. They went to the same school as their mother.”
3. Bill Gates: Housework and Faith
Billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates regularly shared household chores with their three children Jennifer, Phoebe and Rory. Washing dishes together almost every night is a Gates tradition. Before separating from her husband, Melinda said that washing dishes together strengthened their relationship as a couple and as a family. Their faith is also important to the Gates family: “We raised our children religiously,” Bill Gates said in an interview. “You go to church with Melinda and me.”
Children were only allowed to have mobile phones from the age of 14, and they were always taboo at the dinner table. In addition, their screen time has been severely limited “so they can go to bed at a reasonable hour.”
Bill Gates also announced some time ago that his children would only inherit ten million dollars each. It doesn't sound like a lot of money, but it only represents five percent of his estate. The remaining 95 percent will go to charitable foundations after his death.
4. Mark Cuban: Don't spoil yourself with money
Billionaire Mark Cuban doesn't want to spoil his three children too much. “I tell you: After your health, my greatest wish for all of you is: I don't want you to be seen as idiots.” That's why he made it clear to them: “I don't write them checks.” You will not receive a credit card. You can't buy everything you want.” If their children want to buy something, they have to look for work: “My oldest daughter did an internship in the summer. “She worked and earned her own money, and when she earns it, she can spend it on whatever she wants,” she said in an interview.
Cuban wants his children to understand that he wasn’t always in the financial situation he is in today. He wants them to know that if you want to be successful, “you have to work at it,” just like he had to.
5. Jeff Bezos: Don't get too wrapped up in cotton wool
Billionaire and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos also has a special parenting strategy. He wants to raise confident, resilient children who aren’t afraid of challenges. He encourages his four children to take calculated risks and gain practical experience so they can acquire creativity, ingenuity and courage — skills he believes are as important as schooling.
For this reason, children in Bezos’ household are allowed to work with sharp knives from the age of four. His wife said she “would rather have a child with nine fingers than one with no imagination.” It is important for the family to instil confidence and practical problem-solving skills in their children from an early age, rather than shielding them from any risk.
6. Elon Musk: Curiosity, creativity and critical thinking
Multi-entrepreneur Elon Musk has a total of ten children with three different women. Although the billionaire is very busy with his time due to his numerous companies, he claims to regularly dedicate time to his children. In an interview he once said: “Nothing can make you as happy as having children.”
Musk wants to encourage his children to look critically at the world around them. Curiosity and lifelong learning are values that are especially important to him when raising his children. The focus is on the love of learning and further development: the 52-year-old does not place much value on memorization. Perhaps that is why he founded his own school which his children attend. It's called Ad Astra, which is Latin for “to the stars.” Here all children learn together, regardless of their age and without frontal teaching, but in a playful way, according to their own interests and in a group. The focus is on problem solving and creativity. On Platform X, Musk once gave the advice: “Be very careful about what schools teach your children.”
There is also something Musk would do differently in retrospect. “Today I would limit the time my children spend on social media more than I have in the past and pay more attention to what they see. You have to be careful that children are not programmed by some algorithm.”