Top 10 Youngest Self-Made Billionaires in the World
According to Forbes magazine's latest ranking of individuals with estimated assets of over $1 billion, there are currently more than 2,871 individuals on earth who can claim the title of billionaire. Together, they represent a total of $14.2 trillion.
It is worth mentioning that all 25 of the world's richest billionaires under 30 are heirs, none are self-made billionaires.
In the article and list below, KnowInsiders honors the Top 10 youngest billionaires in the world with self-made wealth.
Learn more: All Young Billionaires (Under 30): Inheritances (Forbes 2024)
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| Youngest Self-Made Billionaires in the World |
1. Gary Wang
Gary Wang, whose cryptocurrency exchange company, FTX, made him the youngest self-made billionaire at the age of thirty. But in November 2022, the empire he and Sam Bankman-Fried co-founded collapsed, badly damaged by the quick withdrawal of user capital that resulted in FTX, FTX's U.S. operations, and Alameda Research filing for bankruptcy.
Wang's significant wealth was derived from a 16% holding in FTX and FTT tokens; however, because of the volatility of the cryptocurrency market, his net worth is now zero.
2. Palmer Luckey
Palmer Luckey, a 31-year-old with a $2.3 billion net worth, started the virtual reality startup Oculus VR in 2012 and sold it to Facebook for $2 billion in cash and stock in 2014. Notably, at the remarkable age of sixteen, he developed Oculus Rift, the company's first virtual reality headset.
After leaving Facebook in 2016, Luckey founded the defense startup Anduril the following year. Anduril wanted to raise $1 billion by 2022 at a valuation of $8 billion. Luckey's innovative work goes beyond gaming; via the revolutionary applications of virtual reality technology, it has an impact on a variety of sectors, including healthcare and education.
3. Ben Francis
Ben Francis, who was born and raised in Solihull, England, is the man behind the famous athletic apparel brand Gymshark, and he has a net worth of $1.3 billion. In the fitness industry, he has become well-known. By selling a 21% interest to the private equity firm General Atlantic in August 2020—at a valuation of $1.45 billion—he maintained 70% ownership of the company, which was a significant move.
Francis co-founded Gymshark in their parents' garage when he was 19 years old with his friend Lewis Morgan. To propel the brand's growth, they forged social media partnerships with influential fitness figures. In 2012, while the founder was still a college student, Gymshark got its start delivering pizzas. After that, in October 2022, the firm opened its first physical location on Regent Street in London, and in the following year, it expanded internationally by opening an office in Denver. In addition to increasing his fortune, Francis's brand leaves an indelible mark on the fitness fashion industry with its fashionable and high-quality athletic apparel.
Who is the youngest billionaire in the world?2024 will see the completion of Forbes Economic Magazine's list of the world's 25 youngest billionaires. At the summit was Livia Voigt, a 19-year-old girl. She is originally from Brazil and, because of her minority ownership in the electrical equipment manufacturer WEG, has amassed a fortune of approximately 1.1 billion dollars.
The publicly traded business, which was co-founded by her late grandfather Werner Ricardo Voigt, is billed as the biggest industrial electric motor manufacturer in the United States. Notably, WEG turned over roughly $6 billion in revenue in 2022. |
4. Andy Fang, Stanley Tang
Stanley Tang and Andy Fang are two prominent names in the meal delivery app business; they have a combined net worth of $1.2 billion. They are the current San Francisco Head of Consumer Engineering and Head of Labs, respectively, and were co-founders of the popular platform DoorDash.
Fang and Tang have taken advantage of the rising demand for convenient meal delivery services by owning a substantial 4% stake in DoorDash, a company that went public on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2020. Their innovative contributions to the food technology industry and their entrepreneurial spirit have made them one of the youngest groups of people to become self-made billionaires.
Learn more: Top 14 Billionaires of Hollywood - Richest Celebrity Billionaires
5. Sam Bankman-Fried
A prominent figure in the cryptocurrency space, Sam Bankman-Fried, saw a precipitous fall in November 2022 when investors swiftly pulled their money out of his FTX exchange. In the United States, Bankman-Fried handled the bankruptcy filings for FTX, Alameda Research, and FTX itself. Despite receiving accolades for rescuing struggling cryptocurrency companies, his empire collapsed.
Launched in 2019, FTX quickly became a major player in the cryptocurrency derivatives market, reaching a valuation of $40 billion by early 2022. Despite the fact that his wealth has evaporated due to market fluctuations, Bankman-influence Fried Fried's highlights the risks and opportunities in the volatile cryptocurrency industry.
6. John Collison
John Collison is worth $7.2 billion; he co-founded and is president of Stripe, a platform that allows people and businesses to make online payments. A total of $850 million was raised by the company in April 2020, putting its valuation at $36 billion. Collison achieved a significant milestone with this. While he and his brother Patrick were students at MIT in Cambridge, they came up with the idea for Stripe.
In response to the expanding e-commerce market, Collison's company has revolutionized online payment processing. His achievements showcase the power of innovative fintech solutions to revolutionize industries and economies around the world.
7. Evan Spiegel
Evan Spiegel, 33 years old and worth $3.1 billion, is famous for being a co-founder of Snapchat and for significantly impacting the evolution of social media. Spiegel became a billionaire at the young age of 25 while serving as CEO of Snap, a platform that 397 million users used daily to send photos and videos that would disappear after a certain amount of time.
With Bobby Murphy, Spiegel co-founded Snapchat in 2011. Spiegel left Stanford six years later to launch the app. In 2018, Spiegel earned a Bachelor of Science degree in product design. He has ensured that Snapchat remains relevant in the face of intense market competition by focusing on user privacy and introducing innovative features. A great example of how innovation can be critical to success in the fast changing tech sector is Spiegel's story.
Learn more: Top 10 Richest Heirs in The World Today
8. Shunsaku Sagami
The 33-year-old Japanese businessman Shunsaku Sagami is a major player in the M&A brokerage industry, thanks to his $1.9 billion net worth. The Tokyo-based M&A Research Institute, which Sagami co-founded and currently serves as CEO of, provides advisory services in the M&A space through the application of artificial intelligence (AI). Particularly for small and medium-sized businesses whose owners are retiring and leaving no one to carry on the family business, the firm offers specialized acquisition services.
The company created a stir in the market by doing away with upfront fees and replacing them with a system where sellers only pay after a deal closes successfully. Sagami began his career in advertising after finishing at Kobe University. He later founded and sold an information technology company. He founded the Merger and Acquisition Research Institute in 2018. His achievements demonstrate the value of strategic business acumen and the global character of financial markets.
9. Joe Lau
Joe Lau, a 34-year-old American with a fortune of $1.5 billion, has become famous in his home country for his contributions to blockchain technology. In her role as co-founder of 2020-founded Alchemy, Lau has made substantial contributions to the software that drives various blockchain-based Web3 businesses. Lau was estimated to own 26% of Alchemy when the company was valued privately at $10.2 billion in February 2022.
The purpose of launching Alchemy Ventures in December 2021 was to bootstrap the industry through investments in existing clients. Down to Lunch, a meetup app, was briefly the most popular app in the Apple Store; both Lau and co-founder Nikil Viswanathan are Stanford graduates.
10. Taylor Swift
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| Taylor Swift - Youngest Self-Made Billionaires in the World |
Taylor Swift is the only artist on this list at the age of 34, with a net worth of $1.1 billion. Swift became a billionaire in October 2023, and her wealth is largely due to the success of her Eras tour and her music library. Based only on her songs and performances, Swift—the first musician on this list—stands out for her achievements.
Swift's enormous wealth, which includes over $500 million from touring and royalties, a $500 million music catalog, and $125 million in real estate, is proof of her unmatched success in the music business. Her presence serves as a reminder of the many routes one can take to become a self-made billionaire.
