At age 30 a lot of people are yet to figure out so many things about their lives. However, we have some smart entrepreneurs who are already billionaires before clocking 30 years of age.
They apparently have either figured out how to make big bucks or are just bestowed with wealth from their family. An increase in entrepreneurs, especially those who founded technology startups, has led to a spate of younger billionaires globally.
Becoming a billionaire was not really talked about a decade ago, and it took generations to acquire that kind of wealth.
According to Forbes, The youngest billionaire on the planet is a German heir Kevin David Lehmann, who is just 18. His father, Guenther Lehmann, transferred a stake in the German drugstore chain Drogerie market to his son when he was 14, but it remained under trusteeship until his 19th birthday, which was in September 2021.
Top 30 Youngest Billionaires in the World 2022
Here is a list of the top 30 youngest billionaires in the world, starting with the youngest.
1. Kevin David Lehmann
Age: 19
Net Worth: $2.4 Billion
Source of Wealth: Drugstores
Country: Germany
Kevin David Lehmann is the youngest billionaire in the world at age 18 with an estimated net worth of $3.3 billion. He owns 50% of Germany’s leading drugstore chain, dm (drogerie market), which brings in over $12 billion in annual revenue.
Kevin David Lehman inherited stakes in the German drugstore chain drogerie market from his father, Guenther Lehmann. His father, Guenther Lehmann, transferred a stake in the German drugstore chain drogerie market to his son when he was 14, but it remained under trusteeship until his 18th birthday, which was in September 2020
Drogerie market, the source of Lehmann’s wealth, is the leading drugstore chain in Germany. It was founded in 1974. According to the company website, it employs over 41,000 people across more than 2,000 stores throughout Germany.
2. Wang Zelong
Age: 24
Net Worth: $1.5 Billion
Source of Wealth: Pigment Production
Country: China
Wang is the second richest youngest billionaire in the world with an estimated net worth of $1.5 billion. He inherited a stake worth more than $1.3 billion in CNNC Hua Yuan Titanium Dioxide Co., which trades on the Shenzhen stock exchange.
The company produces titanium dioxide pigment, a white pigment that can be used in coatings, plastics, ink, and other materials. He also has stakes in Lomon Billions Group, another company that produces titanium dioxide in China.
3. Pedro Franceschi
Age: 25
Net Worth: $1.5 Billion
Source of Wealth: Fintech
Country: Brazil
Pedro Franceschi is co-CEO of Brex, a fintech startup aiming to overhaul the corporate credit card. He met co-founder Henrique Dubugras on Twitter in 2012. In 2013, the paid launched a payment startup, Pagar.me, for small businesses in Brazil and sold it to a larger Brazilian rival in 2015.
Franceschi became a billionaire in January 2022, when Brex–based in California–raised money from private investors who valued the company at $12.3 billion.
4. Alexandra and Katharina Andresen
Age: 25
Net Worth: $1.3 Billion
Source of Wealth: Investment Firm
Country: Norway
The Andresen sisters each inherited 42% of Ferd, a Bærum, Norway-based investment company that reels in about $2 billion in annual revenue. Ferd runs hedge funds, has private equity investments, and is an active investor on the Nordic stock exchange.
Their father, Johan, still runs the business. He runs the family business, investment company Ferd, which is one of the largest private companies in Norway.
Their parents taught the sisters not to live too extravagantly, especially when it comes to their vehicles.
5. Henrique Dubugras
Age: 26
Net Worth: $1.5 Billion
Source of Wealth: Fintech
Country: Brazil
Henrique Dubugras is co-CEO of Brex, a fintech startup aiming to overhaul corporate credit cards. Dubugras met co-founder Pedro Franceschi through Twitter in 2012. In 2013, they launched a payments startup called Pagar.me for small businesses in Brazil and sold it to a larger Brazilian rival in 2015.
Dubugras became a billionaire in January 2022, when Brex, based in California, raised money from private investors who valued Brex at $12.3 billion.
6. Ryan Breslow
Age: 27
Net Worth: $2 Billion
Source of Wealth: E-Commerce
Country: United States
Ryan Breslow is the founder and CEO of Bolt, the technology company that is democratizing commerce by bringing lightning-fast, one-click checkout to the world. Breslow is also one of the youngest billionaires in the world.
The company secured an $11 billion valuation from investors in January. In addition to that, an anonymous user disclosed that he owns a 25% stake that’s worth about $2.75 billion. However, the young founder declined the comment on his shares.
7. Austin Russell
Age: 27
Net Worth: $1.6 Billion
Source of Wealth: Autonomous Car Tech
Country: United States
Austin Russell is the 25-year-old founder and CEO of Luminar, a startup in Silicon Valley that makes LIDAR sensors for self-driving cars.
LIDAR technology had been used for short-distance mapping, but Luminar claims to have a functioning LIDAR that works at 250 meters, which is a breakthrough. Luminar went public through a SPAC merger in December. Austin Russell owns about a third of the company.
Interestingly, Russell dropped out of Stanford in 2012 after receiving a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship to start Luminar Technologies.
8. Gary Wang
Age: 28
Net Worth: $5.9 Billion
Source of Wealth: Cryptocurrency
Country: United States
Gary Wang is the co-founder and the chief technology officer of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Wang owns about 16% of the exchange, which raised $400 million at a $32 billion valuation in January 2022, and about 18% of its U.S. operations, which investors valued at $8 billion.
9. Gustav Magnar Witzoe
Age: 28
Net Worth: $4.5 Billion
Source of Wealth: Fish Farming
Country: Norway
Gustav Magnar Witzoe owns nearly half of SalMar ASA, the Norwegian salmon producer his father founded in 1991.
Witzoe’s fortune nearly doubled in the past year thanks to SalMar’s strong market performance. His stake in the firm was gifted by his father in 2013.
Witzoe is also a technology startup and property investor. He previously worked for MGM Property and has invested in both Gopi and Keybutler.
10. Andy Fang
Age: 29
Net Worth: $1.1 Billion
Source of Wealth: DoorDash
Country: United States
Andy Fang is a Chinese-American billionaire tech entrepreneur. He is best known as the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at DoorDash, which he started along with Stanley Tang, Tony Xu, and Evan Moore in 2013.
He owns about a 4% stake in DoorDash, which listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in early December 2020
11. Stanley Tang
Age: 29
Net Worth: $1.2 Billion
Source of Wealth: Doordash
Country: United States
DoorDash, the food delivery app Fang and Tang co-founded in 2013, became more prevalent than ever during the pandemic as restaurants and customers pivoted to delivery.
Tang owns about 4% of DoorDash, which went public on the New York Stock Exchange in early December 2020.
12. Sam Bankman-Fried
Age: 30
Net Worth: $24 Billion
Source of Wealth: Crypto Trading
Country: United States
Sam Bankman-Fried is one of the youngest billionaires in the world with an estimated net worth of $8.7 billion. He built his massive crypto fortune at an astonishing speed, having launched both trading firm Alameda Research, which manages $2.5 billion in assets, and crypto derivatives trading platform FTX. Bankman-Fried embraces a philosophy called Effective Altruis.
His goal is to make as much money as he can so that he can give away as much as possible. In 2020, he gave $5 million to a pro-Biden super PAC, making him one of the president’s biggest donors.
13. Jonathan Kwok
Age: 30
Net Worth: $2.2 Billion
Source of Wealth: Real Estate
Country: Hong Kong
Jonathan and his older brother, Geoffrey, 35, each inherited from their late father Walter Kwok a portion of his stake in Hong Kong property developer Sun Hung Kai Properties.
Walter Kwok was ousted as chairman of Sun Hung Kai in 2008 as the result of a feud with his brothers Thomas and Raymond Kwok.
He then started property developer Empire Group Holdings, which Jonathan and Geoffrey now run.
14. Alex Atallah
Age: 30
Net Worth: $2.2 Billion
Source of Wealth: OpenSea
Country: United States
Allex Atallah is the Chief Technology Officer of OpenSea, a marketplace for nonfungible tokens–digital assets that represent real-world objects, like art. Atallah co-founded the company with CEO Devin Finzer in 2018. The pair became billionaires after a funding round that valued their company at $13.3 billion.
15. Elisabeth Furtwaengler
Age: 30
Net Worth: $1 Billion
Source of Wealth: Publishing
Country: Germany
Elisabeth Furtwaengler is a German businesswoman and the daughter of publishing magnate Hubert Burda and doctor and actress Maria Furtwaengler owns 25% of Burda Media Group.
She is a member of Burda Media’s board of directors, as is her brother Jacob, and performs as a singer-songwriter under the stage name Lisa Fou.
16. John Collison
Age: 31
Net Worth: $9.5 Billion
Source of Wealth: Stripe
Country: Ireland
John Collison is an Irish billionaire entrepreneur and the co-founder and President of Stripe which he co-founded in 2010 with his brother Patrick.
The online payments company is expanding internet commerce by making it easy to process transactions from anywhere. He credits his company’s success to not just having an idea, but having an actual product.
17. Devin Finzer
Age: 31
Net Worth: $2.2 Billion
Source of Wealth: OpenSea
Country: United States
Devin Finzer the CEO of OpenSea, a marketplace for nonfungible tokens–digital assets that represent real-world objects like art. Finzer co-founded OpenSea in 2018 along with Alex Atallah with each of them owning an 18% stake. Finzer became the first NFT billionaire in 2021 after private investors valued their company at $13.3 billion.
18. Lisa Draexlmaier
Age: 31
Net Worth: $1.4 Billion
Source of Wealth: Automobile
Country: Germany
Lisa Draexlmaier is one of the youngest billionaires in the world with an estimated net worth of $1.6 billion. Lisa and her father, Fritz Draexlmaier, preside over auto parts maker Fritz Draexlmaier Holding GmbH, of which Lisa is the sole owner.
The $5.5 billion (2019 sales) company counts among its customers Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Land Rover, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Tesla.
The company has diversified into the manufacture of electronic components, consoles, door and instrument panels, and exclusive interiors for specific models.
19. Evan Thomas Spiegel
Age: 32
Net Worth: $7.1 Billion
Source of Wealth: Snapchat
Country: United States
Evan Thomas Spiegel is an American businessman who is the co-founder and CEO of the American social media company snap inc., which he created with Bobby Murphy and Reggie Brown while they were students at Stanford University. Evan Thomas Spiegel, CEO of Snap, became a billionaire at the age of 25.
20. Perenna Kei
Age: 32
Net Worth: $1.4 Billion
Source of Wealth: Logan Property Holdings
Country: China
Perenna Kei is a Chinese billionaire businesswoman with an estimated net worth of $1.4 billion. In 2014, she was named the youngest billionaire in the world by Forbes. She holds an 85% stake in her father’s company Logan Property Holdings.
21. Pedro de Godoy Bueno
Age: 31
Net Worth: $1.2 Billion
Source of Wealth: Health Insurance
Country: Brazil
Pedro de Godoy Bueno is Brazil’s youngest billionaire with a net worth of $1.3 billion. The young billionaire is the CEO of the Brazilian laboratory firm Diagnosticos da America SA.
His late father, Edson de Godoy Bueno, was Brazil’s richest healthcare billionaire. However, he died of heart attack in 2017 at age 73 leaving most of his fortune to his children.
Pedro who is married to his longtime partner Herrmann Hoffmann became CEO of DASA at 24.
22. Joseph Lau
Age: (32)
Net Worth: $2.4 Billion
Source of Wealth: Alchemy
Nationality: United States
Joseph Lau is the co-founder of Alchemy, whose software powers thousands of blockchain-based Web3 companies. Founded in 2020, Alchemy was valued by private investors at $10.2 billion in February 2022; Viswanathan owns an estimated 26% stake.
23. Bobby Murphy
Age: 33
Net Worth: $7.5 Billion
Source of Wealth: Snapchat
Country: United States
Bobby Murphy is an American internet entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of Snap Chat Inc, a hugely successful social media company.
Murphy, Snap’s Chat Chief Technology Officer, built the popular social media app with Evan Spiegel, his Stanford University Fraternity friend.
Murphy together with his partner Spiegel owns more than 30% of Snap but has voting shares that give them control over the board. Since Snap Chat. success, Murphy has invested roughly $30 million into real estate and still owns about 18% of Snap Chat Inc.
24. Patrick Collison
Age: 33
Net Worth: $9.5 Billion
Source of Wealth: Stripe
Country: Ireland
Patrick Collison is an Irish billionaire entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Stripe, which he started with his younger brother, John, in 2010. The online payment gateway that lets businesses and individuals accept payments over the internet.
Patrick and his brother John hatched the idea for Stripe while both were in college in Cambridge at MIT. Stripe’s first payment was processed while the Collison brothers were on vacation in South America.
25. Nikil Viswanathan
Age: 34
Net Worth: $2.4 Billion
Source of Wealth: Alchemy
Country: United States
Nikil Viswanathan is the co-founder of Alchemy, whose software powers thousands of blockchain-based Web3 companies. Founded in 2020, the company was valued by private investors at $10.2 billion in February 2022; Viswanathan owns an estimated 26% stake.
26. Fred Ehrsam
Age: 34
Net Worth: $2.2 Billion
Source of Wealth: Cryptocurrency exchange
Fred Ehrsam is the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase in 2012 along with Brain Armstrong. The platform has since grown to become the largest US crypto brokerage.
In 2017, Ehrsam left the company but remains on board and still owns about 6% of its stock. In April 2021, Coinbase went public. He co-founded Paradigm in 2018, a cryptocurrency investment firm with more than $1 billion in assets.
27. Said Gutseriev
Age: 33
Net Worth: $1.2 Billion
Source of Wealth: Fortheinvest JS, Safmar JSC
Country: Russia
Said Gutseriev is a Russian entrepreneur of Ingush descent, CEO of the oil holding ForteInvest JSC, co-owner of the Industrial and Financial Group SAFMAR, which includes assets in various industrial sectors, construction, real estate, and chain stores Eldorado and M.video.
Said became the first investor in cryptocurrency exchange Currency.com in 2019.
28. Eva Maria Braun-Luedicke
Age: 35
Net Worth: $1.2 Billion
Source of Wealth: Medical Technology
Country: Germany
Eva Maria Braun-Luedicke owns 12% of the medical device company B. Braun Melsungen, which began in 1839 as a small pharmacy that sold herbal remedies. Eva Maria works as a Communications Manager for B. Braun.
The company today has over 60,000 employees and manufactures products ranging from infusion and injection solutions to surgical instruments.
29. André Kasprzak
Age: 35
Net Worth: $1.46 Billion
Source of Wealth: Shoes
Country: Denmark
André Kasprzak is a danish businessman and owns a larger number of shares in ECCO, a Danish shoe manufacturer, a company founded by Kasprzak’s late grandfather, Karl Toosbuy, in 1963
He joined ECCO’s supervisory board in 2017 after his father, Dieter, stepped down as CEO. Kasprzak previously served in the Danish military and played professional golf in the Nordic League.
30. Lukas Walton
Age: 35
Net Worth: $17.6 Billion
Source of Wealth: Walmart
Country: United States
Lukas Walton is an American billionaire heir. He is the grandson of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart. Lukas Walton inherited his fortune when his father, John Walton, died in a 2005 plane crash. He received about one-third of his father’s estate.
Lukas Walton owns stakes in Walmart, First Solar, and Arvest Bank, though he does not work for the companies. Walton has donated at least $149 million to his family’s namesake foundation, where he chairs the environment program committee.
