From Ray-Ban heirs to Red Bull’s Mark Mateschitz: World's richest young billionaires 2024 revealed
Forbes’ World's Youngest Billionaires 2024 list reveals a shift towards inherited wealth with no self-made billionaires under 30 this year.
Forbes recently released Forbes’ World’s Youngest Billionaires 2024 list and for the first time in the last 15 years, not a single self-made venture under the age of 30 made it to the list. This indicates that the era of ‘transfer of generational wealth’ has begun. The list includes names from around the world including Gen Z Ray Ban heirs Clemente and Luca Del Vecchio to Red Bull’s Mark Mateschitz.
World’s 8 richest young billionaires 2024 ranked
The youngest billionaire of 2024 is Livia Voigt who is 19 years old and still in university. The Brazillian teenager who owns a minority stake in WEG which was co-founded by her late grandfather is worth US$1.1 billion. The youngest billionaire in Hong Kong is Jonathan Kwok. After his father Walter Kwok’s death in 2018, Jonathan inherited stakes in Sun Hung Kai Properties and Empire Group Holdings.
Here are the World’s 8 richest billionaires in 2024 ranked:
8. Gustav Magnar Witzøe
Age: 30
US$4.2 billion
At the young age of 19, Norwegian Gustav Magnar Witzøe received nearly half of SalMar, the world's second-largest salmon farming company, from his father to bypass a hefty inheritance tax, as reported by the New Zealand Herald. Currently, he is focused on tech start-ups and real estate events while his father manages SalMar. Gustav is also a frequent visitor at the Met Gala and models for various brands and magazines.
7. Michal Strnad
Age: 31
US$4.5 billion
Michal Strnad, who took over as CEO of Czechoslovak Group (CSG) from his father in 2018, leads one of the largest ammunition producers in the Europen Union. CSG specializes in weapons, military vehicles, and radars, and also owns the Czech watchmaker PRIM.
5-6. Clemente Del Vecchio and Luca Del Vecchio
Ages: 19 and 22, respectively
US$4.9 billion each
Luca and Clemente Del Vecchio, sons of the late EssilorLuxottica chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio, each received a 12.5% share in their father's holding company which is behind known-eyewear brand Ray-Ban, as reported by Bloomberg. Alongside their significant earnings from the world’s largest eyewear company, the Milan-based brothers also hold stakes in insurance firm Generali, property developer Covivio, and Italian banks Mediobanca and UniCredit.
4-3 Firoz Mistry and Zahan Mistry
Ages: 27 and 25
US$5.1 billion each
Brothers Firoz and Zahan Mistry, each valued at $5.1 billion, inherited their wealth from stakes in the Tata conglomerate and Shapoorji Pallonji Group. They rose to prominence in 2022 followed by the tragic deaths of their father and grandfather, who was Tata’s largest individual shareholder. The Irish businessmen now reside in Mumbai, where their companies are headquartered.
2. John Collison
Age: 33
US$7.2 billion
John Collison, an Irish entrepreneur, is the co-founder and president of Stripe, a company he started with his brother Patrick in 2010 to facilitate online payments. By 2016, Collison had become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.
1. Mark Mateschitz
Age: 31
US$39.6 billion
Mark Mateschitz became a top young billionaire in 2022 when he inherited 49% of Red Bull after his father Dietrich passed away, as reported by Business Insider. With Red Bull earning $11.6 billion and selling 12.1 billion cans last year, Mark's fortune has grown significantly.
