How to Raise Children Correctly: Musk, Bezos, Gates, Branson Answer
Why go to the casino with your child, why you shouldn’t hide knives from children and what questions you should ask them in the evenings: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and other entrepreneurs talk about their principles of education.
Elon Musk
Tesla founder Elon Musk has seven children: triplets Damian, Saxon and Kai and twins Griffin and Xavier from his first marriage. In 2020, the head of SpaceX Elon Musk and singer Grimes had a son, who was given the unusual name Ex Ash A-Twelv (X Æ A-12), and in 2022, a daughter, Exa Dark Syderil (abbreviated her name sounds Y). Musk’s first child from his marriage to his first wife, Justine Wilson, son Nevada, died at the age of ten weeks from sudden infant death syndrome.
Musk admitted in 2020 that he does not do much with children in their infancy. “Now there is little I can do. Grimes has a much bigger role than me right now”, Musk said after the birth of X Æ A-12. - When the child grows up, I will be able to do more with him. I just do what I do with my other children." At the same time, Musk considers himself a good father. He said that he takes them with him on trips. “They have the opportunity to have a very unusual experience, which they will be able to appreciate when they get older. I would never go camping on my own, I do it only so that they at least sometimes face difficulties. They have to cook and clean themselves and do everything they do on hikes”, the billionaire shared. Musk is confident that kids should spend twice as much time reading as playing video games. However, when asked about his children, he replied that at school age they mostly learned through YouTube and Reddit. “There were lessons too, but judging by the amount of time they spent online, most of their education came from the internet”, Musk said.
The billionaire cares so much about the education of his children that in 2014 he opened the Ad Astra School on one of the SpaceX campuses. His children and the children of some employees of his company studied there. There is no division into classes at the school: everyone studies together, because each student has his own strengths, so even a 14-year-old teenager can use the advice of an eight-year-old. In addition, the educational process is built on the principles of teamwork, the development of strategic thinking, the use of gaming platforms, the possibility of choosing disciplines (no one forces a student to attend subjects that are uninteresting to him). The school also uses a special assessment system: points are awarded for work, but they do not matter for the end of the semester. Teachers try to explain to children the essence of things, and not engage in memorizing facts.
However, the entrepreneur did not manage to build warm relations with all the children. So, in June 2022, Xavier filed documents to change his name - he became a girl named Vivian. As one of the reasons for his decision, Xavier cited a reluctance to have connections with his biological father.
Richard Branson
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson has two adult children. His daughter trained as a doctor and works at the non-profit foundation Virgin Unite, and his son opened his own film company and sits on the board of directors of the Virgin Group.
Branson takes a modern approach to parenting. “If your child is going to try something forbidden, do it with him. It’s better than forcing him to do it without you knowing," he advises. The entrepreneur also believes that children should be given the opportunity to make their own mistakes. “Too often, adults try to protect children from the disappointment of failure and failure. This is a big mistake. The more often you tell your children that they will fail, the faster they will lose their curiosity and determination”, the billionaire points out.
One day, Branson took his kids to Las Vegas to give them some money-related advice and show them “the dangers of gambling.” After spending all the money on roulette, the entrepreneur told the children, “That’s the whole point of gambling. Everyone thinks they are going to win… but in reality, all the hard-earned money can be blown away in an instant.” But, when leaving, the teenagers unknowingly left a few spare chips on the table, and another family sat down at it. And when Branson and the children were about to leave the hotel from the casino, they saw that that family was enjoying a big win. The children immediately said that the father was wrong. To which he replied: “It is important to remember that every rule has exceptions.”
Branson says parenthood is much more difficult than starting your own business. “If you think running a business is hard, try raising kids and having grandchildren. However, as difficult as it is, I have learned over the years that raising children is one of the few things that is more satisfying than starting a company. I have been fortunate to found hundreds of companies in my career, but I am much more fortunate to be the father of two beautiful children and five grandchildren”, admits the entrepreneur.
Jeff Bezos
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the father of four children. As he himself said, he approaches their upbringing “quite non-trivially.” “Children arrange science experiments in the kitchen, learn Chinese, master the Singapore math program, and also play various games with neighborhood children”, the entrepreneur said.
Bezos advocates that children begin to get acquainted with the structure of the world as early as possible, therefore, from a young age, he allows them to use electrical appliances. “I allow the heirs to use sharp knives from the age of four. I would rather be the father of a child with nine fingers than a child who does not have the opportunity to know the world”, the billionaire points out.
Bezos encourages his kids to follow their passions. “If you do what you love, the day will be great”, says the entrepreneur. At the same time, he points out that it is normal if interests change over time. He calls for children to take pride not in innate talents, but in their choices. According to the entrepreneur, work is something that a person can be proud of. “It’s a choice. If it is correct, then it will lead you to success”, Bezos points out.
Warren Buffett
The head of investment holding Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, has three children. The billionaire from childhood instilled in them the right attitude towards money. He is sure that this should be done from kindergarten, without waiting for adolescence. For example, you can show your child that it is better not to spend money on soda, but to put it in a bank account and get interest. The billionaire suggests another exercise: have parents and their children make a list of five or ten things they want to buy, and then look at each item and note whether it is a necessity or a desire, and explain why.
Buffett is against putting monetary incentives at the forefront of raising children. “I have seen how many manage their own children, and there is nothing worse than getting something from a child with money”, the billionaire is sure.
He always told the children that they could do anything: graduate from high school, become doctors or lawyers. The billionaire advocates that children learn to learn. “I urged them to use their talents in any way for the good of the world around them”, Buffett recalls.
He said more than once that he would leave enough money for the children so that they could work as anyone. “But there will not be so much money, since they must still have the desire to do at least something”, the entrepreneur pointed out.
Mark Zuckerberg
The CEO of Meta (an organization recognized as extremist and banned on the territory of the Russian Federation) Mark Zuckerberg is raising two daughters. The entrepreneur’s children have been doing small but important household chores since childhood. For example, load dirty dishes into the dishwasher. “First of all, we don’t give them everything. So I think that’s the important part. And they also have responsibilities”, Zuckerberg said.
The entrepreneur has an important evening educational ritual that he performs with his children. He asks them what is most important in life and discusses the answers with them. He also asks them how they helped someone during the day. “This is how I try to explain to my children what I think is really important in life”, he said.
The entrepreneur limits the screen time of children, as he himself admitted. “I don’t want my children to sit in front of the TV or computer for a long time”, he said. At the same time, the billionaire allows them to use video chat to communicate with relatives who live throughout the country. According to Zuckerberg, this helps to improve the quality of communication with loved ones. But passive consumption of content or “moving from video to video” does not lead to the same positive effect.
Bill Gates
Microsoft founder and father of three children Bill Gates tries to find a balance in his upbringing. “On the one hand, children should have freedom of choice, and on the other hand, there should not be so much money so that they can burn their lives and do nothing”, says the billionaire.
In the upbringing of the heirs, he followed the principle of “love and logic.” This means that children were almost never scolded, and if they did something wrong, they were offered to solve the problem on their own. At the same time, Gates admitted that he was not able to fully implement this approach. “Is it possible to get rid of emotions? Completely impossible”, he says.
When Gates’ daughter began to spend too much time on video games, he introduced a time limit for her. He also did not allow children to use mobile phones until they were 14 years old. “We don’t have mobile phones at the table when we eat”, the billionaire notes.
Gates also said that his family attends church regularly. “We raised our children in a religious way. They went to the Catholic Church”, says the businessman.
Ray Dalio
American billionaire and founder of the investment company Bridgewater Associates Ray Dalio raised four children, but in 2020 his eldest son Devon died in a car accident.
Dalio believes that it is easier for children to learn life wisdom if they can go through different life stages with their parents. For example, his sons were born when he had nothing, and while they grew up, he had a fortune. Thus, the children saw everything that happened, how the life path of their father was built. They have experienced the difference between poverty and wealth, and they know how to create and save money. It is much more difficult for his grandchildren to understand this, because when they were born, they already had everything.
The entrepreneur believes that the most important thing parents can teach their children is self-sufficiency, that is, the ability to support themselves without outside help.
Dalio says it’s important for children to learn in school that “making mistakes is part of the learning process, that everyone has strengths and weaknesses.” “And I think it’s also important for them to learn how to think creatively on their own, and not just follow instructions”, adds the investor.
Sources: Newsweek, The New York Times, Forbes, Inc.com, CNBC, Richard Branson Blog, Techcrunch, Fortune, Business Insider, Entrepreneur, Knowridge, Marketwatch.