5 tech industry moguls who raise their kids nearly tech-free

Bill Gates Jennifer Gates

Just because someone works in Silicon Valley doesn't mean they'll be a techie parent.

In fact, some of the highest-profile executives in the tech world, including former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates and current Apple CEO Tim Cook, take surprisingly low-tech approaches to raising their kids.

The approach stems partly from tech parents realizing the power of the products they create, and knowing large doses of those products aren't necessarily good for growing brains.

Here are a handful of tech executives who take the low-tech approach.

Bill Gates set an age limit for cell phones.

Each of the billionaire philanthropist's three kids are older now, but when they were younger Gates and his wife prohibited them from having their own phones before age 14.

The policy stemmed from a 2007 incident in which Gates felt his daughter was spending too much time playing a video game.

"We often set a time after which there is no screen time and in their case that helps them get to sleep at a reasonable hour," he told the Mirror in April 2017.

Steve Jobs banned his own tech at home.

Jobs, the CEO of Apple until his death in 2012, revealed in a 2011 New York Times interview that he prohibited his kids from using the newly-released iPad.

"We limit how much technology our kids use at home," Jobs told reporter Nick Bilton.

The late-CEO was famously interested in Zen Buddhism, believing in the value of minimalism. His first home in Palo Alto, California had hardly any furniture.

Tim Cook doesn't want his nephew using social networks.

Cook, the current Apple CEO, said in January that he doesn't allow his nephew to join online social networks.

"I don't have a kid, but I have a nephew that I put some boundaries on," Cook said, according to The Guardian, conceding Apple products aren’t meant for constant use.

"I'm not a person that says we've achieved success if you're using it all the time," he said. "I don't subscribe to that at all."

See the rest of the story at Business Insider