The youngest self-made billionaires are a trio of 22-year-olds: Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath, and Surya Midha, co-founders of the AI talent platform Mercor, who achieved the status in late 2025 by surpassing previous record-holders like Alexandr Wang (Scale AI) and Lucy Guo (Scale AI). They collectively hold significant stakes in Mercor, valued at $10 billion, making them the youngest ever to reach billionaire status, with Midha being the youngest of the three by a couple of months.
Forbes recognition
With Foody as Mercor's CEO, Hiremath its CTO, and Midha holding the role of board chairman, the young men have been named by Forbes as the world's youngest self-made billionaires.
Fueled by AI, prediction markets and online gambling, there are more self-made billionaires under 30 than ever before, 13 up from a previous record of 7.
YouTuber MrBeast is now officially the only billionaire under 30 who didn't inherit his wealth. At 27, the content creator, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is also the eighth youngest billionaire worldwide, with an estimated $1 billion (Rs 8,350 crore) fortune, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
The founding family of Walmart Inc., the Waltons, tops the list again this year with a net worth that exceeds half a trillion dollars for the first time. The minimum needed to make the list is higher than ever: $46.4 billion, $9.7 billion more than last year.
MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson) has been diagnosed with Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affecting his digestive tract, which he's managed since age 15 with dietary changes (like avoiding corn) and medications like Remicade to control severe fatigue, pain, and weight loss. He's also publicly shared that he has astigmatism, a common vision issue, which he corrected with contacts, significantly improving his eyesight.
The final challenge was about figuring out which of the five remaining contestants had the million dollar briefcase in a "game of bluff". YouTube animator Jaiden Animations won the cash prize which she intends to use to allow some of her subscribers to attend art school.
As of early January 2026, Elon Musk is the #1 richest person in the world, consistently topping lists from Forbes and Bloomberg, primarily due to his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX, with his net worth fluctuating but holding the top spot over figures like Larry Page and Jeff Bezos.
According to Forbes 67% of billionaires are self made. Only a third on their top 400 inherited their wealth.
MrBeast: $2.6 billion (£1.9bn)
Jimmy Donaldson aka MrBeast is the richest Gen Z star by a huge margin. YouTube's most-subscribed creator, the 27-year-old has drawn 457 million followers thanks to his high-stakes challenges, stunts, and headline-grabbing giveaways.
Luana Lopes Lara, a 29-year-old former ballerina and co-founder of Kalshi, has indeed become the world's youngest self-made female billionaire.
The thirty-year-old was recently named Forbes' youngest self-made billionaire with a net worth of $1.3 billion, after her first business, Scale AI, was acquired by tech giant Meta in a deal that valued the AI data labelling company at $25 billion.
These habits don't come from one's DNA — they can be adopted by anyone and used to achieve massive success and wealth.
In one section where almost all of the claims are redacted from public view, it says the defendants "created, permitted to exist, and fostered a culture and pattern and practice of sexual harassment including in the form of a hostile work environment".
Celebrities With Crohn's Disease
Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has hit the $1 billion mark at just 26, making him worth nearly twice as much as the Mission: Impossible star Tom Cruise's $600 million, as per Celebrity Net Worth. The math is almost comical.
MrBeast, a.k.a. Jimmy Donaldson, sought his mother's reaction before appointing Silicon Valley veteran Jeff Housenbold as CEO of his business empire.
As of late 2024 and into 2025, Elon Musk became the first person to surpass a $400 billion net worth, primarily driven by the rising values of SpaceX and Tesla and his AI venture xAI. While fluctuations occur, he consistently ranks as the world's richest person, with figures showing his wealth significantly exceeding other billionaires like Jeff Bezos.
Yes, Kim Kardashian is generally considered richer than Taylor Swift, though both are billionaires, with Kardashian often leading due to her successful businesses like SKIMS, while Swift's wealth comes from music, tours (like The Eras Tour), and films. Recent reports (late 2025) place Kardashian's net worth around $1.9 billion, slightly ahead of Swift's $1.6 billion, though these figures fluctuate.
How old was Mark Zuckerberg when he became a billionaire? Mark Zuckerberg was 23 years old when he debuted on the Forbes Billionaires list in 2008, making him the youngest self-made billionaire to appear on the list.
For Taylor Swift's 35th birthday, Travis Kelce reportedly gifted her luxurious items including a Rose Gold Rolex, several pieces from Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels (like a diamond cuff and Alhambra jewelry), and 35 elaborate bouquets from The Million Roses, totaling around $175,000 in lavish presents, making it a very special milestone celebration.