35 Gen Z Members Ranked Among World's Richest, Here's Who They Are
The artificial intelligence boom and family inheritance have resulted in an increasing number of people becoming billionaires at very young ages. Forbes’ latest World’s Billionaires list records 35 people achieving billionaire status before age 30, marking a significant milestone.
This figure represents approximately 1% of the world’s 3,428 billionaires total, a notable increase from 2025, when the proportion was around 0.6%.
These young billionaires have accumulated wealth across diverse business sectors, ranging from pharmacy networks and pipe supply companies to prediction markets and artificial intelligence technology firms.
Whilst most derived their wealth through family inheritance, a record 12 self-made young billionaires have built their fortunes independently.
The youngest self-made billionaire comes from AI-based recruitment startup Mercor. Its three co-founders—Surya Midha, Brendan Foody, and Adarsh Hiremath—are each 22 years old with approximately US$2.2 billion in wealth.
Foody previously expressed astonishment at achieving this milestone, describing the wealth as unreal and far exceeding their previous expectations.
Midha, slightly younger than his two colleagues by several months, has become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, surpassing the previous record held by Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang from last year’s list.
The three Mercor founders, also Thiel Fellowship recipients, have set a historic new record as the youngest self-made billionaires ever to appear on the Forbes list, surpassing Mark Zuckerberg’s previous record of first appearing at age 23 some two decades ago.
Additionally, this year’s list features the youngest self-made female billionaire. Luana Lopes Lara, a 29-year-old former ballerina from Brazil and Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, is a co-founder of prediction market company Kalshi. She replaced Scale AI founder Lucy Guo, who previously held the title after taking the position from Taylor Swift in April.
Kalshi co-founder Tarek Mansour has also joined the young billionaires’ list this year. In total, 17 new billionaires under age 30 have been added, with 11 of them self-made.
Most of these young billionaires emerge from the artificial intelligence sector, including Swedish entrepreneur Fabian Hedin, who founded AI coding startup Lovable at age 26.
Additionally, AI coding startup Cursor’s co-founders Michael Truell and Aman Sanger, each 25 years old, have made the list. Another notable addition is Arvid Lunnemark, currently 26 years old, though he is no longer with the company.
The world’s youngest billionaire is currently Amelie Voigt Trejes, only 20 years old. Her wealth derives from family inheritance through her family’s Brazilian industrial machinery company WEG, founded by her grandfather Werner Ricardo Voigt in 1961.
Amelie is even younger than her twin siblings Pedro Voigt Trejes and Felipe Voigt Trejes, and seven weeks younger than German pharmaceutical heir Johannesvon Baumbach, the world’s second-youngest billionaire.
Other young billionaires obtaining wealth through inheritance include Clemente Del Vecchio, 21, heir to the Italian eyewear empire Essilor Luxottica, and Kim Jung-youn from South Korea, who inherited wealth from the online gaming industry alongside his sibling.
Overall, eight billionaires under age 30 are United States citizens, with three others, including Lopes Lara, currently residing in the country.
Additionally, 13 young billionaires reside in Europe and six in Asia. All young billionaires from the United States are self-made, whilst the majority of young billionaires in Europe inherited their wealth.
Combined, the wealth of these 35 young billionaires reaches approximately US$92.4 billion, a decline from last year’s US$152.3 billion.
This decrease occurs partly because last year’s list included very wealthy young billionaires such as Red Bull heir Mark Mateschitz and Stripe co-founder John Collison, who have now exceeded the age threshold for this category.