A couple of weeks ago, we looked at the top ten youngest billionaires in the world. That list was dominated by people who inherited their wealth. Now Forbes has released its 2019 Billionaires List, and it has crowned entrepreneur and celebrity Kylie Jenner as the world’s youngest ‘self-made’ billionaire. So, let’s take a look at the top 10 people who became self-made billionaires at the youngest age.
The youngest self-made billionaires
The meteoric rise of the Internet technology has produced many young self-made billionaires in the last few years. According to Forbes, about two-thirds of the world’s 2,153 billionaires are self-made while the other one-third became billionaires due to inheritance and family businesses.
When Forbes named Kylie Jenner as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire ever, it raised many eyebrows. People on social media pointed out that she was born into a rich and famous family. She had a major advantage of her family name and connections, which helped her along the way. So, she might not be a “self-made” billionaire in the true sense. But Forbes labeled her as “self-made” because she didn’t inherit the business and didn’t get the money.
Haven't we gone over this?
Self-made: Having succeeded in life unaided.https://t.co/g0ZHDSkVfu https://t.co/3O48zKsInN
— Dictionary.com (@Dictionarycom) March 5, 2019
These are the people who became billionaires at the youngest age:
10- Sergey Brin, 30
The co-founder of Google was 30 years old when he became a billionaire. He was just a few days away from his 31st birthday when the search engine giant went public in 2004 at a valuation of $27 billion. Brin currently serves as the president of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. He is currently the 14th richest person in the world with a net worth of $49.8 billion.
9- Elizabeth Holmes, 30
The founder and disgraced former CEO of health technology startup Theranos was declared a billionaire by Forbes at the age of 30 in 2014. She had a net worth of $4.5 billion in 2014. Theranos was shut down after revelations that its revolutionary blood tests that used only a small amount of blood were all a lie. In 2016, Forbes reduced her net worth to zero.
8- Eduardo Saverin, 28
Born in Brazil, Eduardo Saverin is one of the co-founders of Facebook. Thanks to his stake in the social networking giant, he became a billionaire in 2010 at the age of 28. His current net worth is $9.8 billion. Saverin currently lives in Singapore. He has invested in many early-stage startups including Jumio and Qwiki.
7- Patrick Collison, 28
Patrick Collison co-founded the online payments company Stripe with his younger brother John Collison. He became a billionaire when Stripe raised $150 million in a funding round that valued the startup at $9.2 billion. Stripe’s valuation has since soared to $22.5 billion.
6- Bobby Murphy, 27
The Snapchat co-founder was just 27 years old when he became a billionaire. In March 2017, Snap Inc went public at a valuation of $30 billion. He currently serves as the chief technology officer of Snap Inc. Murphy is worth $2.1 billion.
5- Dustin Moskovitz, 26
Dustin Moskovitz first appeared on the Forbes billionaires list in 2010 when he was just 26. He is one of the co-founders of Facebook. He is also the co-founder of Asana, a project management software company. He is currently estimated to be worth $16.3 billion.
4- John Collison, 26
The co-founder of Stripe is two years younger than his brother Patrick Collison. The brothers became billionaires in 2016. John is currently worth $2.1 billion. John and Patrick co-founded Stripe in 2011 while attending Harvard.
3- Evan Spiegel, 25
Evan Spiegel is the co-founder and CEO of Snap Inc, the company that operates Snapchat. He was just 25 years old when he made it to the Forbes billionaires list in 2015. Both Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy own about 18% of Snap Inc. Spiegel is currently worth $2.1 billion.
2- Mark Zuckerberg, 23
Mark Zuckerberg co-founded Facebook out of his Harvard dorm room in 2004. He became a billionaire in 2008 when he was just 23 years. He retained the title of the youngest self-made billionaire for more than a decade until Kylie Jenner won that crown. Zuckerberg is currently worth $62.3 billion. Under his leadership, Facebook has acquired some of the world’s most popular social networking platforms including Instagram and WhatsApp.
1- Kylie Jenner, 21
According to Forbes, Kylie Jenner is the world’s youngest self-made billionaire with a net worth of $1 billion. She is just 21 years old. She launched Kylie Cosmetics in 2015 with $250,000, which she had earned as a model. Kylie Cosmetics is currently estimated to be worth $900 million. Additionally, she has made more than $100 million through reality shows and other ventures. She credits the “power of social media” for her success. She has more than 128 million followers on Instagram. Kylie Cosmetics recently signed an agreement with Ulta Beauty to sell her products in more than a thousand of Ulta Beauty stores across the United States.
