this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2025

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Bill Gates Bought His Daughter A $16 Million Horse Farm As A Graduation Gift — But Ex-Wife Melinda Says The Kids Were Raised Very 'Middle Class' (finance.yahoo.com)

submitted 3 days ago by FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world to c/aboringdystopia@lemmy.world

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If your dad is Bill Gates, you're probably not getting a Starbucks gift card for graduating college.

In 2018, Jennifer Gates walked off the Stanford stage and onto a 124-acre, $15.82 million horse farm in North Salem, New York. According to Architectural Digest, the lavish estate was a graduation gift from her billionaire parents—and came complete with rolling pastures, three parcels of land, and proximity to New York City for her future studies.

But in case that sounds too much like the plot of "Succession: Equestrian Edition," Melinda Gates would like to remind everyone: their kids were absolutely raised "middle class."

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[–] HeyJoe@lemmy.world 34 points 2 days ago

I want to be this middle class...

[–] FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.world 137 points 3 days ago (6 children)

These motherfuckers clearly need to be paying more taxes.

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[–] Etterra@discuss.online 30 points 2 days ago

Rich people are so goddamn out of touch with reality.

[–] the_q@lemm.ee 72 points 3 days ago

What could a horse ranch cost? $10?

[+] doingthestuff@lemy.lol 15 points 2 days ago (3 children)

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[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 26 points 2 days ago (9 children)

I'm middle class and I haven't been able to afford to go to the dentist is about 20 years.

That doesn't sound right.

[–] LilB0kChoy@lemm.ee 12 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That’s because the term “middle class” without context doesn’t mean much.

My wife and I life in the Twin Cities metro in Minnesota and we meet the definition of middle class for this part of the country which ranges for our state from ~$55k to ~$150k if going based on income.

We have almost no retirement savings but we have tens of thousands in the bank, we have a mortgaged home, two cars 6 years or newer with one completely paid off, in the last 3 years we’ve had to replace our AC, furnace, water heater, water softener, stove, refrigerator, dishwasher and garage door. We have also chosen to replace our kitchen counter, front door and front walk/patio as well as add a fence and dog door. All of this we paid for up front in cash.

We carry no debt outside of my student loans which I pay on every month as well as one car loan and our mortgage. We both go to the dentist and get all needed medical care.

Caveats to this are we don’t have kids and I can’t imagine how difficult it would be if we did. We also live pretty simple lives. We’ve always lived in a fashion so that we could afford our basic expenses on one income because my wife and I both lived very poor, check-to-check lives when we were younger.

I don’t think middle class truly exists anymore. You either can afford to live now or you can’t, it’s just by how much and where.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 9 points 2 days ago

https://eattherichtextformat.github.io/1-pixel-wealth/

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[–] Blackmist@feddit.uk 8 points 2 days ago (1 children)

They seem to think you're only middle class if you've never been to Epstein Island.

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[–] b161@lemmy.blahaj.zone 33 points 2 days ago (1 children)

“Middle class” isn’t a thing. There’s the working class and the ruling class.

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[–] Fizz@lemmy.nz 51 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They mean billionaire middleclass.

[–] some_designer_dude@lemmy.world 31 points 3 days ago (2 children)

I think they actually do. $16 million is like weekend money for them, I’m guessing

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[–] blueeggsandyam@lemmy.world 20 points 2 days ago (2 children)

How do you raise a child “middle class in this house:

Bill Gates designed and owns a 66,000-square-foot (6,100 m2) mansion that is on Lake Washington in Medina, Washington.In 2009, property taxes were reported to be US$1.063 million on a total assessed value of US$147.5 million.

The house features an estate-wide server system, a 60-foot (18 m) swimming pool with an underwater music system, a 2,500-square-foot (230 m2) gym, and a 1,000-square-foot (93 m2) dining room. There are six kitchens and 24 bathrooms, ten of which contain bathtubs.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 12 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Why TF would you put in a pool that is 7 m shorter than Olympic sized? There's a reason they are 25 m. It makes it much easier to determine your daily workout.

[–] desktop_user@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 day ago

20 yards is still a nice number, but it is weird to not just go a bit further and hit the 25m distance of a standard competitive pool

[–] ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

Bill Gates is rich enough to have other people work out for him.

[–] Mariemarion@lemm.ee 11 points 2 days ago

Olympic-sized is 50 meters, but your point stands.

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[–] ikidd@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago (1 children)

How much can a banana cost, Michael? $10?

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[–] a9cx34udP4ZZ0@lemmy.world 14 points 2 days ago (7 children)

To be fair, out of all the billionaires they at least have made attempts to not make their kids shiteheads which is in stark contrast to most billionaires. At one point in time at least, they were only leaving $10m to each child, with plans to donate everything else.

Is that enough to live better than 99.99% of us? Absolutely. But it's also not: I can do whatever I want and buy whatever I want and never have to think about money again.

[–] Doorbook@lemmy.world 10 points 2 days ago (1 children)

this is not how generational wealth work.

lets say you are 17. having a party in the house with 100k cash in your bank account. you hear dad talk about a big merger "this company will be this company and the stock will go up" you put 50k on that and now you have 300k or something.

I sat with a few upper class once, if I have cache on hand I will be millionaire by now, it doesn't take much to get rich when you hang out with rich people....

[–] stevedice@sh.itjust.works 12 points 2 days ago

It's more like "Hey, I have an idea for a new type of toilet. Can you get me a meeting with your golf buddy who is the CEO of the largest toilet company in the world?". This is literally how Microsoft started.

[–] slappypantsgo@lemm.ee 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

That’s all she’s saying. They raised the kids with limits. That’s what she should have said. They obviously weren’t raised “middle class” or anything like it.

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[–] bitjunkie@lemmy.world 15 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Melinda fucking Gates doesn't know what "middle class" means, big shocker there…

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[–] Randomgal@lemmy.ca 14 points 2 days ago

The problem is that the working poor and the billionaires all think they are middle class. Because poor is for non-whites.

[–] geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml 14 points 2 days ago

Middle finger class.

[–] 3aqn5k6ryk@lemmy.world 20 points 2 days ago (1 children)

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[–] Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works 26 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Lol "middle class"... Does anyone know a middle class family? I just see people with money, and people who don't have enough. That's the real world... Maybe long ago there was a middle class?

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[–] tauren@lemm.ee 12 points 2 days ago

To be fair, by the time you graduate from college, you've already been raised.

[–] Ledericas@lemm.ee 25 points 3 days ago

and gates has to reinvent his image with his "charity work" he still a ruthless businessman, and countries complained about his vaccine requirements as well.

[–] conditional_soup@lemm.ee 29 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Well, okay, if that's upper class then what size ranches do middle class people buy for their kids' graduation?

[–] sin_free_for_00_days@sopuli.xyz 39 points 3 days ago (1 children)

[–] VieuxQueb@lemmy.ca 12 points 2 days ago

You crazy LEGO is crazy expensive!

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