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I World’s 5 Youngest Self-Made Billionaires
Here are the world’s five youngest self-made billionaires according to Forbes, all of whom dropped out of college. Betting on technology, these five pioneering problem-solvers all have business operations in the U.S. Net worths are as of September 14, 2022.
1. Alexandr Wang
Age: 25 Net worth: $1 billion Source of wealth: Artificial Intelligence Citizenship: U.S.
Wang is the cofounder and CEO of Scale AI, a Californiabased startup that helps companies put their raw data to work for AI and machine learning. The world’s youngest self-made billionaire owns an estimated 15% of Scale AI, which investors valued at $7.3 billion in 2021, according to Forbes. At age 17, Wang landed full-time engineering roles in Silicon Valley. He was inspired to solve machine learning infrastructure problems and accelerate the development of AI through his work at Quora, where he worked as a technical lead. At 19, after a brief stint at MIT to study machine learning, Wang dropped out to attend the Y Combinator accelerator and launch Scale in 2016.
2. Henrique Dubugras
Age: 26 Net worth: $1.5 billion Source of wealth: Fintech Citizenship: Brazil
Dubugras serves as co-CEO of Brex, a Fintech aiming to overhaul the corporate credit card. He met his cofounder Pedro Franceschi through a Twitter argument in 2012, when they were both high school seniors living in their home country of Brazil. Dubugras grew up in Sao Paulo and attended Stanford University with Franceschi for less than a year before they dropped out to start Brex in 2017. Private investors valued Brex at $12.3 billion in January 2022.
Henrique Dubugras and Pedro Franceschi
2. Pedro Franceschi
Age: 26 Net worth: $1.5 billion Source of wealth: Fintech Citizenship: Brazil
Franceschi is co-CEO and cofounder of Brex with fellow billionaire Henrique Dubugras. The Brazilian natives’ first business was also a payment startup that the duo launched in 2013. Aimed at small businesses in Brazil, Pagar.me was later sold to a larger local rival in 2015. Franceschi grew up in Rio de Janeiro and attended Stanford University with Franceschi for less than a year before they dropped out to start Brex in 2017. Brex is backed by Y Combinator, DST Global, and PayPal cofounders Max Levchin and Peter Thiel among others.
4. Austin Russell
Age: 27 Net worth: $1.1 billion Source of wealth: Sensors Citizenship: U.S.
An optics prodigy, Russell founded and runs automotive sensor firm Luminar Technologies, an idea he developed at just 17 while studying physics at Stanford University. In 2012, he dropped out of college after receiving a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship. Luminar went public in a SPAC merger in December 2020. Following the listing on Nasdaq, Russell became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at age 25. Today, the company counts China’s SAIC, Daimler trucks, Volvo, and Mercedes as its clients. 5. Ryan Breslow
Age: 28 Net worth: $2 billion Source of wealth: E-commerce Software Citizenship: U.S.
Breslow launched payment startup Bolt after dropping out of Stanford University in 2014. He has raised $1.3 billion for Bolt, including $355 million in January 2022, which valued the company at $11 billion. The checkout experience platform’s investors include BlackRock, General Atlantic, and SAP. In January 2022, he stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman. Outside of Bolt, Breslow has founded Eco, a digital global cryptocurrency platform for use as a payment tool for daily transactions.
