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Austin Russell, the 28-year-old CEO of California-based Luminar Technologies, remains the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, with a net worth of US$1.2 billion, according to the Hurun Report.
The Stanford dropout first made the cut in 2020 at the age of 25, when Luminar, which specializes in lidar and machine perception technologies used in autonomous vehicles, went public.
While it took Russell eight years—he founded Luminar in 2012 while he was still at high school—to become a billionaire, the average time for the world’s self-made billionaires aged 40 and under is six years, according to the report released on Thursday.
“That is mainly because most of them are serial entrepreneurs, who started off at the average age of 24 with their first business and then started their current business aged 27,” Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of Hurun Report, said in a news release. Hurun is a China-based wealth research and data firm often compared to Forbes in the U.S.
According to the report, Hurun Global U40, the world has 59 self-made billionaires aged 40 and under in 2023, down 28 from last year and back to pre-Covid levels. Their combined wealth, calculated in U.S. dollar terms based on a snapshot on Jan. 16, totaled US$269 billion, down 41% from a year ago.
The top 10 richest self-made billionaires had at least US$6.6 billion, led by Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, 39, with a net worth of US$68 billion. Singapore-based Zhang Yiming, 40, ranked second with a net worth of US$37 billion, down US$17 billion from last year. Zhang, originally from China, is the CEO of ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
The Sydney-based husband and wife duo, Cliff Obrecht, 37, and Melanie Perkins, 35, founders of online design platform Canva, came in third, with a net worth of US$12 billion.
Claiming the fourth place was Dubai-based Pavel Durov, 39, of instant messaging app Telegram. He was estimated to be worth US$11 billion, increasing 206% from last year.
Fourteen new faces have joined the young billionaire club in 2023, led by Shanghai-based Cai Haoyu, 36, with a net worth of US$3.1 billion. He is a co-founder and CEO of miHoYo, a video game development and publishing company.
Other newly minted self-made young billionaires include singer Rihanna, and sports stars Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and LeBron James.
READ MORE:Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rihanna Reach Billionaire Status
Other key findings from the report include:
- The U.S. has the most self-made billionaires aged 40 and under, with 23; followed by China with 18;
- 15 individuals, or 25% of the Hurun Global U40, were born and raised in countries different than where they live today;
- San Francisco is the top city for young billionaires to reside in, with 8; followed by Beijing and Shanghai, each with 6;
- Top three industries for young billionaires are media, entertainment, and food and beverages;
- There are an additional 21 billionaires at or under the age of 40 through inheritance, including Red Bull’s Mark Mateschitz, 30, with US$23 billion; Yao Hao, 37, of China Pacific Construction, with US$22 billion; and Lukas Walton, 37, of Walmart, with US$18 billion.
FAQs
Russell, who owns about one-third, became a billionaire himself–in fact, the youngest self-made billionaire in the world. Luminar Technologies founder and CEO Austin Russell, now 26, spent his teens doing research at University of California at Irvine's Beckman Laser Institute.
Who is the youngest person to become a billionaire? ›
Clemente Del Vecchio
Clemente was at one time the world's youngest billionaire (at the age of 18), but he has since aged out of that title, which is now held by Livia Voigt.
Who is the youngest billionaire in the world lidar? ›
Austin Russell (born March 14, 1995) is an American entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Luminar Technologies. Luminar specializes in lidar and machine perception technologies, mainly used in autonomous cars. Luminar went public in December 2020, making him a billionaire at the age of 25.
Who is the youngest billionaire in AI company? ›
Scale AI Cofounder Alexandr Wang Regains World's Youngest Self-Made Billionaire Title. Wang is once again a billionaire after he announced his artificial intelligence unicorn raised $1 billion at a $13.8 billion valuation Tuesday.
Who are the top 3 youngest billionaires? ›
Youngest billionaires in the world as of April 2023, based on net worth (in billion U.S. dollars)
| Characteristic | Wealth in billion U.S. dollars |
|---|
| Mark Mateschitz, Austria (30 years) | 34.7 |
| Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio, Italy (27 years) | 3.5 |
| Clemente del Vecchio, Italy (18 years) | 3.5 |
| Luca Del Vecchio, Italy (21 years) | 3.5 |
9 more rowsJul 4, 2024
A 19-year-old Livia Voigt has emerged as the youngest billionaire in the world. With a net worth of USD 1.1 billion, she is at the 2,648th position in the list of the richest persons globally.
Who is the 19-year-old billionaire? ›
Synopsis. A 19-year-old Brazilian student, Livia Voigt, claims the title of the world's youngest billionaire, surpassing Italian teen Clemente Del Vecchio. Voigt, heiress to a major electrical motors manufacturer, holds a net worth of $1.1 billion.
Is Taylor Swift a billionaire? ›
The financial news outlet said she is the first artist to achieve billionaire status solely on the basis of her music, and estimated she has a $1.1 billion fortune.
Who is the 24 year old multimillionaire? ›
Lucas Lee-Tyson, from Austin, Texas, began building his luxury lifestyle that saw him earning millions when he was just a teenager. Now, the 24-year-old has his own business known as Growth Cave where he teaches people how to make a profit through social media and avoid trading their time for money.
Who is the 24 year old self-made billionaire? ›
Alexandr Wang (born January 19, 1997) is the founder and CEO of Scale AI, a data annotation platform that provides training data for machine learning models. At age 24, he became the youngest self-made billionaire in the world.
Create multiple income streams
Self-made millionaires rarely rely on a single source of income. Diversify your revenue streams by exploring additional business ventures, investing in stocks or real estate, or creating passive income through writing books, creating online courses, or even monetizing a blog.
Does Jeff Bezos like AI? ›
Jeff Bezos Says AI Is 'More Likely To Save Us Than Destroy Us' As Amazon Launches AI Bot Built To Extract Your Business Details.
Who is the billionaire AI kid? ›
After growing up in the shadows of America's nuclear weapons program, Alexandr Wang dropped out of MIT at 19 to cofound Scale AI. Now he is helping outfits like the Air Force, Army, GM and Flexport unlock their data's potential.
Who is the 45 year old tech billionaire? ›
Bryan Johnson, a wealthy entrepreneur based in Venice, Calif., who is 45 going on 18—is enamored with the idea of being biologically young again. So much so that he is on the path to spending over $2 million this year alone on a host of medical interventions and tests aimed at helping him be younger.
How much is Luminar CEO worth? ›
Austin Russell, founder & CEO of Luminar, remains the world's youngest billionaire with a net worth of US$1.2 billion.
Who is the most billionaire kid? ›
1. Princess Charlotte of Cambridge: Topping the list with a colossal estimated net worth of $5 billion is the royal gem. As the second child of Prince William and Kate Middleton, her inheritance includes vast land holdings, priceless art collections, and future access to the Crown Estate.
How many self-made billionaires under 40? ›
Hurun Report recently unveiled its Hurun Global Under 40 Self-Made Billionaires for 2023, showcasing the brightest young minds who have conquered the business world by the age of 40. This year, the list includes 59 remarkable individuals, signaling a slight decrease from the previous year.
