2026 Global Youngest Billionaire

The lineup of Generation Z billionaires has never been this strong.

Luana Lopes Lara, Surya Midha, Johannes von Baumbach, Amelie Voigt Trejes. Image source: Illustration by Neil Jamieson for Forbes.

In the past year, with massive funding rounds, the AI boom, and traditional inheritance, becoming a billionaire at a young age has become a bit easier.

According to Forbes’ latest global billionaire list, 35 people under 30 have reached ten-figure net worths, a record high. Although this group accounts for only 1% of the 3,428 billionaires worldwide, it has increased by 0.4 percentage points since 2025. Their paths to wealth are diverse, spanning pharmacy, pipeline supplies, prediction markets, AI programming, and more. While most of their wealth comes from inheritance, 12 are self-made, also a record.

The youngest self-made billionaire on the list is a new face: Surya Midha, Brendan Foody, and Adarsh Hiremath, co-founders of AI recruiting startup Mercor, all 22 years old, each worth $2.2 billion—equivalent to earning $100 million each year of their lives. Foody told Forbes last year, “It feels unreal, obviously beyond our wildest dreams.” Midha, just a few months younger than the other two, has now become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, replacing Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, from last year’s list. Midha and his co-founders are Thiel Fellows, making them the youngest self-made billionaires in Forbes history, breaking the record set by Mark Zuckerberg at age 23, two decades ago.

The youngest female self-made billionaire also makes her debut: 29-year-old Luana Lopes Lara, a former ballet dancer, MIT graduate, and co-founder of prediction market company Kalshi. This Brazilian entrepreneur replaced 31-year-old Lucy Guo, co-founder of Scale AI, who took the title from Taylor Swift last April. Lara’s co-founder Tarek Mansour also appears on the list for the first time. This year, 17 new members joined this group, 11 of whom are self-made. Many have made their fortunes in AI, including 26-year-old Fabian Hedin from Sweden, co-founder of AI startup Lovable, and three founders of Cursor: 25-year-olds Michael Truell and Aman Sanger, and 26-year-old Arvid Lunnemark, who has since left the startup.

The youngest new billionaire globally is Amelie Voigt Trejes, whose grandfather Werner Ricardo Voigt (deceased in 2016) co-founded Brazil’s industrial machinery giant WEG in 1961. Amelie is 20, younger than her twin brothers Pedro and Felipe Voigt Trejes, and also younger than Johannes von Baumbach, the second youngest billionaire in Germany, by a few weeks. Others who inherited wealth and made the list include 21-year-old Clemente Del Vecchio, Italy’s youngest heir to eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica; and 22-year-old Kim Jung-youn from Korea, who inherited online gaming fortunes with her sister.

Among the 35 billionaires under 30, eight are Americans, including Lara, and three others currently reside in the U.S. Thirteen are in Europe, and six are in Asia. All American young billionaires are self-made, while most European ones, except Hedin and Lunnemark, inherited their wealth.

These 35 young wealthy individuals have a combined net worth of $92.4 billion, down from $152.3 billion among the top 35 last year. Last year’s group included 32-year-old Red Bull heir Mark Mateschitz with $4.06 billion, and 34-year-old Stripe co-founder John Collison with $1.01 billion.

Below are the top 10 wealthiest among the 35 under 30 on the 2026 Forbes global billionaire list. (Net worth as of March 1, 2026; self-made marked with an asterisk*)

1. Luca Del Vecchio Age: 24 Nationality: Italian Wealth source: Eyewear Net worth: $6.8 billion

He and his brother Clemente are the two wealthiest under-30 billionaires, mainly due to their holdings of 12.5% in eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica, founded by their late father Leonardo Del Vecchio (deceased 2022).

2. Clemente Del Vecchio Age: 21 Nationality: Italian Wealth source: Eyewear Net worth: $6.8 billion

Like his brother Luca, his wealth comes from a 12.5% stake in Delfin, the holding company that owns EssilorLuxottica, parent of Ray-Ban, Persol, and other brands.

3. Maximilian von Baumbach Age: 28 Nationality: German Wealth source: Pharmaceuticals Net worth: $6.6 billion

Maximilian is the oldest among the Baumbach siblings. The family inherits from Boehringer Ingelheim, founded in 1885.

4. Katharina von Baumbach Age: 26 Nationality: German Wealth source: Pharmaceuticals Net worth: $6.6 billion

She is one of four siblings inheriting from Boehringer Ingelheim and the only female heir.

5. Franz von Baumbach Age: 24 Nationality: German Wealth source: Pharmaceuticals Net worth: $6.6 billion

He is another heir to Boehringer Ingelheim.

6. Johannes von Baumbach Age: 20 Nationality: German Wealth source: Healthcare Net worth: $6.6 billion

He is the youngest heir to Boehringer Ingelheim, which has been led by his uncle Hubertus von Baumbach since 2015. Johannes competes in alpine skiing in Austria.

7. Kevin David Lehmann Age: 23 Nationality: German Wealth source: Pharmacy Net worth: $4.9 billion

Lehmann inherited his wealth when his father transferred a 50% stake in Germany’s leading drugstore chain dm-drogerie markt (DM) to him in 2017, when he was just 14.

8. Alexandr Wang* Age: 29 Nationality: American Wealth source: AI Net worth: $3.2 billion

Wang is the founder of AI data annotation giant Scale AI. In June 2025, Meta (Facebook’s parent company) acquired 49% of Scale AI for about $29 billion, and Wang became Meta’s Chief AI Officer. He was the youngest self-made billionaire until October 2025, when he was surpassed by Polymarket founder Shane Copeland.

9. Firoz Mistry Age: 29 Nationality: Irish Wealth source: Diversified Net worth: $3.1 billion

After his father’s death in a car accident in 2022, Mistry and his 27-year-old brother Zahan inherited 4.6% of Tata Sons, headquartered in Mumbai. The group has revenue of $180 billion, with 30 companies across six continents and over 100 countries, spanning industries from automobiles to jewelry, dating back to 1868.

10. Zahan Mistry Age: 27 Nationality: Irish Wealth source: Diversified Net worth: $3.1 billion

After their father’s death, Zahan and his brother Firoz inherited 4.6% of Tata Sons. Their uncle Shapoor Mistry is chairman of the family’s Mumbai-based Shapoorji Pallonji Group.

This article is translated from:

Text: Simone Melvin

Translation: Björn, Rach, Elaine

Proofreading: Lemin

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