Worlds Youngest Billionaire

According to Forbes' most recent list of the world's wealthiest individuals, the average age of a billionaire is 65, while the oldest is insurance mogul George Joseph, who is 101. But being old is not a prerequisite for accumulating significant money. There are actually 15 persons under the age of 30 who are boasting three-comma fortunes worldwide.

Clemente Del Vecchio and Kim Jung-youn, who are both under 20, are the youngest of this largely fortunate group. Leonardo Del Vecchio and Kim Jung-ju, the successful dads of the two teenagers, both passed away in 2022 and left them shares in their respective businesses.The wealth of Del Vecchio, who will be 19 in May, comes from a shareholding in his father's holding business Delfin, which has a part in eyewear manufacturer Luxottica (known for brands such as Ray-Ban and Sunglass Hut). Nothing is known about the young heir, who also makes her acting debut alongside her stepmother, six siblings, two of whom are also young adults. Kim, whose money is in the Japanese-South Korean online gaming behemoth Nexon, is even less well known. She and her sister Jung-min are thought to be 19 and 21, respectively, although a corporate spokesman declined to comment on that, and Forbes was unable to locate any primary sources that could verify their birthdates.

Red Bull heir Mark Mateschitz, whose father Dietrich passed away in October 2022, is by far the wealthiest person under 30. He is nearly ten times as wealthy as the next-richest young billionaires, Clemente Del Vecchio and his two siblings, who are estimated to be worth $34.7 billion. Of the 150 additions to the 2023 billionaires list, Mateschitz is the wealthiest.

Altogether, 11 of these 15 received their wealth through inheritance. Only four are self-made businesspeople. That includes Palmer Luckey, who sold his first firm to Facebook and is now back with a thriving defense tech company, and Ben Francis, who established activewear manufacturer Gymshark in 2012 when he was just 19 years old. Both have recently joined the ranks of the billionaires.

There were 15 30-and-unders in total last year as well, but the names have changed significantly as a result of nine newcomers and eight individuals who completely left the billionaire ranks, including Brex cofounders Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi, as well as DoorDash cofounders Stanley Tang and Andy Fang. They still have plenty of time to file a claim; but, for FTX co-founder Gary Wang, 29, who entered a guilty plea to fraud-related charges in December, it will be considerably more challenging.

Their 15 children are together worth $64 billion, $10 billion more than in 2022, partly because of Mateschitz's enormous inheritance. Even so, it's still unusual to amass so much money at such a young age: Combined, this elite group accounts for barely 0.6% of the 2,640 billionaires in the globe.

In order from oldest to youngest, these are the 15 people on the World's Billionaires list who are under the age of 30:

(As of March 10, 2023, net worths)

Ben Francis

Age: 30; U.K. citizenship; Gymshark as source of wealth; $1.2 billion in total assets

Francis started the sportswear company Gymshark in 2012 at the age of 19, while balancing college coursework and pizza delivery. He put the first components together in his parents' garage in Birmingham, United Kingdom, and used guerilla marketing to break into the fitness apparel market by enlisting the help of weightlifting influencers. Gymshark generated sales of more than $500 million in 2021. Francis still owns 70% of the company despite selling 21% of it to private equity firm General Atlantic in 2020 for $300 million. The most recent action of the unicorn? Gymshark London, a physical location that launched in 2022, provides exercise sessions as well as the company's recognizable clothing.

Palmer Luckey

30 years old; American citizen; virtual reality; defense contracts; net worth $1.7 billion

The erstwhile youthful genius started the VR headset manufacturer Oculus, sold it to Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion, and then started making guns. His defense technology company Anduril, which wants to provide drones and surveillance technologies for the DoD and has systems in place in Ukraine, raised $1.5 billion at a $8.5 billion valuation in December.

Mark Mateschitz

Age: 30; Austrian nationality; Red Bull is the source of wealth; net worth: $34.7 billion

At the passing of his father, cofounder Dietrich Mateschitz, in October, he received 49% of the energy drink company Red Bull. Soon after, in order to "concentrate on his role as shareholder," he resigned from his position as its head of organics.

Michal Strnad

30 years old; Czech nationality; weapons are source of wealth; $2 billion in assets

His Czechoslovak Group has helped double sales to $620 million in the first half of 2022 because it is one of the largest suppliers of ammunition, ground equipment, and artillery equipment to the Ukrainian army. In 2018, he fully assumed control of the company his father had started.

Gustav Magnar Witzoe

Age 29; Norwegian nationality; fish farming as source of wealth; $2.7 billion in assets.

Although having no operational responsibilities, he inherited roughly half of the salmon farming company SalMar ASA from his father, Gustav Witzoe. Instead, he is portraying himself as an investor in real estate and tech startups.

Scott Breslow

Age: 28; U.S. citizenship; e-commerce as source of wealth; $1.1 billion in total assets

The Stanford dropout established three firms, four years apart: Bolt, which shot him to prominence, Eco and Love, his 2022 endeavor. They aim to remove middlemen in payments processing, personal finance and drugs, respectively. A fourth, immature crypto project Movement DAO, was slated to start this year but instead led to a legal battle against a rogue engineer who reportedly took two-thirds of its seed cash. The engineer's attorney called the accusations "frivolous" and rejected them.

Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio

Age: 27 | Citizenship: Italy | Source of Wealth: Luxottica | Net Worth: $3.5 Billion

eyewear tycoon When Leonardo Del Vecchio passed away in June 2022, he was the second-richest person in Italy. He left his widow, Nicoletta Zampillo, six children, and one stepchild 12.5% of his fortune, which was primarily made up of shares of the largest eyewear company in the world, Essilor-Luxottica, which is publicly traded. Leonardo Maria is his father’s only child with Zampillo and heads strategy for Luxottica.

Katharina Andresen

Age: 27 | Citizenship: Norway | Source of Wealth: Investments | Net Worth: $1.5 Billion

Together with her younger sister Alexandra, Katharina is a sixth-generation owner of Ferd, the more than $4 billion (stock) investment corporation their father, Johan, oversees. Katharina is a sustainability officer at an Oslo-based construction firm.

Wang Zelong

Age: 26 | Citizenship: China | Source of Wealth: Pigment production | Net Worth: $1.4 Billion

Wang’s fortune comes from a stake in Shenzhen-listed traded company CNNC Hua Yuan Titanium Dioxide—a chemical used to create white pigment for things like paint and paper.

Andresen, Alexandra

age 26; norwegian nationality; investments as source of wealth $1,5 billion in net worth

Each of Alexandra's and her sister Katharina's shares in the investment company Ferd is 42%. She controls the reins, not Ferd, who is holding the reins: Alexandra oversees a horse breeding and training facility and is a three-time junior Norwegian dressage champion.

Luca Del Vecchio

Age: 21 | Citizenship: Italy | Source of Wealth: Luxottica | Net Worth: $3.5 Billion

Luca is not known to have a position at the eyeglasses company. He is one of two kids born to Leonardo Del Vecchio and Sabrina Grossi, a former Luxottica board member and the former director of investor relations

Jung-min Kim

Age: 21; South Korean citizenship; online gaming as source of wealth $1.7 billion in net worth

After their father Kim Jung-ju passed away in February 2022, Jung-min and her younger sister Kim Jung-youn shared about a third of their family's assets, including a 15% stake in game developer Nexon. In 1994, Jung-ju founded Nexon, a company best known for its massively multiplayer online games such as MapleStory and Kingdom of the Winds. Forbes does not know her precise age.

Lehmann, Kevin David

Age: 20; German nationality; drugstores as source of wealth; $2.3 billion in assets

When he was 14 years old, his father left him half of the German drugstore chain dm-drogerie markt. Until his 18th birthday, when he became a billionaire, it was held in trust. Lehmann and his father are not active in the $14 billion (sales) business's operational aspects.

Jung-min Kim

Age: 19 | Citizenship: South Korea | Source of Wealth: Online gaming | Net Worth: $1.7 Billion

One of two teenage billionaires on this year’s rankings, Kim Jung-youn inherited a stake in her late father’s holding company, which in turn holds approximately half of online gaming giant Nexon. Both Kim sisters maintain a low profile and are not thought to play a significant role in the business. Forbes does not know her precise age.

Leopoldo Del Vecchio

Age: 18 | Citizenship: Italy | Source of Wealth: Luxottica | Net Worth: $3.5 Billion

Leopoldo Del Vecchio is the youngest billionaire in 2023 (according to Forbes). The world received a new adolescent billionaire when Leonardo Del Vecchio died in June 2022. The youngest Del Vecchio heir, Clemente, is not known to hold a position at Luxottica, which also owns Sunglass Hut, Ray-Ban, and Oakley.