Billionaires are getting younger. Forbes magazine released its list of the world’s mega-rich last week and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 23, became the youngest ever self-made billionaire.
Zuckerberg, born during the Ronald Reagan presidency, is worth $1.5 billion four years after launching the social-networking site and the third-youngest to crack the billionaire list since Forbes began tracking ages a decade ago.
The other two inherited their money. Facebook did not respond to requests for comment.
The Forbes list often reflects the times. Bill Gates was once himself like Zuckerberg and dropped out of Harvard to launch a technology upstart. Gates is now 52 and slipped from first place in the rankings after being the richest person in the world for 13 straight years.
Gates is worth $58 billion, $2 billion more than last year, but he is now third on the list. He was dislodged by Warren Buffett ($62 billion) and Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim Helu ($60 billion).
Buffett is 77 and Helu is 68, but there are now 50 billionaires younger than 40, and 34 of them are self-made. The average age of all billionaires has dropped to 61 from 64 in 2004, partly because of the growth of young, self-made Russian and Chinese billionaires. Mainland China’s richest person is 26-year-old real estate heiress Yang Huiyan (No. 125), worth $7.4 billion.
Forbes says that billionaires sometimes slip beneath its radar, but it now counts 1,125 worldwide, worth $4.4 trillion. Two-thirds of the 1,125 are self-made.
Of the 1,125 billionaires, 469 (42 percent) are from the United States. But the average U.S. billionaire is worth $3.4 billion versus $4.3 billion for the average foreign billionaire.
There have been two billionaires who made the Forbes list at a younger age than Zuckerberg.
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Zuckerberg, born during the Ronald Reagan presidency, is worth $1.5 billion four years after launching the social-networking site and the third-youngest to crack the billionaire list since Forbes began tracking ages a decade ago. The other two inherited their money. Facebook did not respond to requests for comment.
Who is the youngest self-made billionaire in the world? ›
This year, the 25 youngest people on the Forbes' World's Billionaires list are all 33 or younger. Together they are worth $110 billion. A few are self-made, having built notable companies like Snap (Evan Spiegel, 33), Gymshark (Ben Francis, 31) and Oculus VR (Palmer Luckey, 31). Most had a lot of help.
Who is the 19 year old self-made billionaire? ›
Livia Voigt
Voigt, 19, is the leading shareholder of WEG Industries, a Brazil-based manufacturer of electric motors, according to Forbes. Her grandfather, Werner Ricardo Voigt, cofounded WEG in 1961.
How did Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire at 23? ›
Born on May 14, 1984, in New York's White Plains, Zuckerberg founded Facebook in 2004 with three friends in a Harvard University dorm room. The platform has since become the world's largest social network. In 2007, at the age of 23, Zuckerberg became the world's youngest billionaire.
Who is first black billionaire? ›
Bob Johnson, the first US Black billionaire, also represents a US trend where most Black billionaires stem from the entertainment industry.
Who is the youngest billionaire and what they did? ›
Dora Voigt de Assis
Dora Voigt d Assis is the older sister of Livia Voigt de Assis, the youngest billionaire on this list. She is also one of the largest individual shareholders of WEG, the largest manufacturer of electrical motors in Latin America. Dora graduated from an architecture college in 2020.
Who is the richest 19 year old in the world? ›
19-Year-Old Student Livia Voigt Is World's Youngest Billionaire.
Who was a billionaire at 21? ›
She's the youngest-ever self-made billionaire, reaching a ten-figure fortune at a younger age than even Mark Zuckerberg (who was 23 when he hit that mark). “I didn't expect anything. I did not foresee the future,” says Jenner, who is the youngest billionaire in the world. “But [the recognition] feels really good.
What is Mark Zuckerberg's IQ? ›
Einstein IQ: 160+, Bill Gates IQ: 150+, Elon Musk IQ: 155, Zuckerberg IQ: 152, Sunny Doel's IQ: over 160.
What age did Bill Gates become a billionaire? ›
If Gates had held onto his 45% initial stake in Microsoft after the company's 1986 IPO, he would be a trillionaire today. But hindsight is always 20/20, and back in 1987, when Microsoft's star was still on the rise, Gates became the world's youngest self-made billionaire at age 32 — which was not too shabby, either.
Bill Gates became a millionaire at the age of 31 in 1986, when Microsoft went public. Mark Zuckerberg became a millionaire at the age of 22 in 2006, when Facebook went public. Steve Jobs became a millionaire at the age of 23 in 1978, when Apple went public.
Who is the no. 1 richest person in the world? ›
Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, is the richest person and the richest man in the world with a net worth of $215 billion. After Arnault is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. Other billionaires with some of the largest net worths include Tesla's Musk, Microsoft's Bill Gates, and Oracle's Larry Ellison.
How rich is Taylor Swift? ›
Swift's inclusion comes after Forbes declared the singer a billionaire in October 2023 and reported her net worth at $1.1 billion.
Who is the number one richest family in the world? ›
The Al Nahyan family, also referred to as the "House of Nahyan," is the richest family in the world. The leader of the family, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the ruler of Abu Dhabi and the President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
How old is the youngest billionaire? ›
Clemente became the world's youngest billionaire at age 18, but he has since lost that title by a two-month age difference with the newest 19-year-old who took the title in 2024.
Who is the youngest billionaire 9 year old? ›
Muhammed Awal Mustapha, known as Mompha junior, also has a fleet of luxury cars. (Image posted on Instagram by Muhammed Awal Mustapha) A nine-year-old African kid is reportedly the world's youngest billionaire, who travels around the world in his private jet and has several mansions to his name.
Who is the youngest second billionaire? ›
Clemente Del Vecchio
Clemente is in second place on the list of the top ten youngest billionaires in the world. He is one of the offspring of the late Leonardo Del Vecchio, who served as the chairman of EssilorLuxottica until his passing in 2022.
Is Mark Zuckerberg the youngest billionaire? ›
Zuckerberg took the company public in May 2012 with majority shares. In 2008, at age 23, he became the world's youngest self-made billionaire. He has since used his funds to organize multiple donations, including the establishment of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
