Born rich to self-made: Meet world’s youngest billionaires of 2025

While most billionaires today are between the ages of 50 and 79, a small and impressive group of young individuals have made it to the Forbes Billionaires List even before turning 30. In 2025, 21 young people under 30 have achieved billionaire status, showing that age is no barrier to massive wealth, especially when a mix of inheritance, innovation, and timing come into play.

Among them, the youngest billionaire in the world right now is Johannes von Baumbach, aged just 19. He is the heir to Germany’s Boehringer Ingelheim, the world’s largest privately-owned pharmaceutical company. He and his siblings are among the wealthiest young heirs in Europe.

In fact, most of these young billionaires inherited their wealth through family businesses. Clemente Del Vecchio (20), for example, is from Italy and has inherited part of the luxury eyeglass brand EssilorLuxottica. Similarly, Lívia Voigt de Assis (20) from Brazil is now a billionaire through the industrial group WEG, and Kim Jung-youn (21) from South Korea inherited her stake in the gaming company NXC, which owns Nexon.

However, there are two names that stand out as self-made billionaires, those who built their fortunes from scratch. Ed Craven (29), based in Australia, is the co-founder of Stake.com, the world’s largest crypto-based online casino. His net worth is USD 2.8 billion. Alongside him is Alexandr Wang (28) from the United States, the co-founder of Scale AI, a company focused on artificial intelligence.

Europe is home to most of these young billionaires. Germany tops the chart, with several names on the list, including the von Baumbach siblings, Kevin David Lehmann (22), who inherited his stake in a drugstore empire, and Maxim Tebar (24), linked to a chainsaw business. Italy follows with the Del Vecchio brothers, and France features Remi Dassault (24), heir to Dassault’s aerospace and software division.

Interestingly, Zahan and Firoz Mistry, the sons of the late Cyrus Mistry (former Tata Group chairman), are no longer in the top 10 youngest billionaires this year. They now rank 12th and 15th, with a combined wealth of USD 7.8 billion, which still places them among the wealthiest young people in the world.

This year’s list proves that whether by inheritance or innovation, a new generation of billionaires is rising, younger, bolder, and making their mark on the global economy.