Youth and wealth ...
is there a better combination? Historically, there have been those blessed with billionaire status at a very young age, either through inheritance or self-made ventures. However, for the first time in 15 years, there are no self-made billionaires under the age of 30 on Forbes’ World’s Youngest Billionaires 2024 – a sign that the “great wealth transfer” to the next generation has begun, according to the magazine. In other words, we’re truly in the era of the nepo baby.
The world’s youngest billionaire is 19-year-old Livia Voigt, who is still in university. The Brazilian teenager is worth around US$1.1 billion as a result of her minority stake in the electrical equipment company WEG, co-founded by her late grandfather.
{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Hong Kong’s youngest billionaire, Jonathan Kwok. Photo: LinkedIn","url":"https://img.
i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/16/02491b9b-d7a7-4398-91eb-712c46ed1bc4_8242977a.jpg"} Hong Kong’s youngest billionaire, Jonathan Kwok.
Photo: LinkedIn Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the youngest billionaire is 32-year-old Jonathan Kwok, who inherited stakes in Sun Hung Kai Properties and Empire Group Holdings after his father Walter Kwok’s death in 2018. Jonathan is now running Empire Group Holdings with his brother Geoffrey, 38. Meet the top eight youngest billionaires in the world, according to Forbes at the time of writing, and find out how they accumulated their vast fortunes at such a young age.
8. Gustav Magnar Witzøe, 30 – US$4.2 billion {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Billionaire baby Gustav Magnar Witzøe works on start-ups and property investments. Photo: @guswitzoe/Instagram","url":"https://img.i-scmp.
com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/16/b371c4f0-a1a8-49d7-8454-1a78cee5c2bb_7390c88c.jpg"} Billionaire baby Gustav Magnar Witzøe works on start-ups and property investments. Photo: @guswitzoe/Instagram When he was only 19 years old, Norwegian Gustav Magnar Witzøe’s father gave him nearly half the family’s fish farming company SalMar – the world’s second largest salmon farmer exporting to over 50 countries – in a move to avoid a large tax inheritance bill, according to New Zealand Herald.
These days, Gustav works on tech start-up and property investments while his father continues to oversee SalMar. Gustav is also a red-carpet regular at A-list events like the Met Gala , and he also puts his good looks to work as a model for various brands and magazines. 7.
Michal Strnad, 31 – US$4.5 billion {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Michal Strnad heads up one of the biggest ammunition companies in the EU.
Photo: Michal Strnad/Facebook","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/16/88d0b711-ab3a-4b7c-9d94-7fb69c175bc6_f8e8600e.
jpg"} Michal Strnad heads up one of the biggest ammunition companies in the EU. Photo: Michal Strnad/Facebook Michal Strnad is the owner and CEO of Czechoslovak Group, better known as CSG, which he inherited from his father in 2018, according to the CSG website. The company is one of the biggest ammunition producers in the EU, per Reuters, specialising in weapons, army trucks and vehicles and radars.
Czech watchmaker PRIM also falls under its umbrella. 5-6. Clemente Del Vecchio, 19 and Luca Del Vecchio, 22 – US$4.
9 billion each {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Luca Del Vecchio and Clemente Del Vecchio each inherited 12.5 per cent of eyewear firm EssilorLuxottica when their father died.
Photo: Bloomberg","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/16/ae69f2b6-9899-4716-ad08-e8d33761b476_f60200c9.
jpg"} Luca Del Vecchio and Clemente Del Vecchio each inherited 12.5 per cent of eyewear firm EssilorLuxottica when their father died. Photo: Bloomberg Sons of the late EssilorLuxottica chairman Leonardo Del Vecchio, Luca and Clemente Del Vecchio each inherited a 12.
5 per cent stake in their father’s holding company, which is behind popular sunglasses brand Ray-Ban, per Bloomberg. Besides raking in billions with the world’s largest eyewear firm, the Milan-based brothers also own shares in insurance company Generali, property developer Covivio, and Mediobanca and UniCredit banks in Italy. 3-4.
Firoz Mistry, 27 and Zahan Mistry, 25 – US$5.1 billion each Brothers Firoz and Zahan Mistry, each worth US$5.1 billion, owe their enormous wealth to their stakes in the Tata conglomerate and construction company Shapoorji Pallonji Group, which they both inherited.
They shot to the rich list suddenly in 2022 when their father tragically died in a car accident, a mere three months after the death of their 93-year-old grandfather, who was Tata’s largest individual shareholder at the time, according to India Times. The young Irish businessmen now live in Mumbai, where both companies are based. 2.
John Collison, 33 – US$7.2 billion {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"John Collison Stripe was the world’s youngest self-made billionaire in 2016.
Photo: @collision/Instagram","url":"https://img.i-scmp.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/16/15187275-6124-4d2a-9665-2cd11bb06433_898d3632.
jpg"} John Collison Stripe was the world’s youngest self-made billionaire in 2016. Photo: @collision/Instagram Irish entrepreneur John Collison is the co-founder and president of Stripe, a company that allows businesses and individuals to accept online payments, which he co-founded in 2010 with brother Patrick. By 2016, Collison was the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.
1. Mark Mateschitz, 31 – US$39.6 billion {"@context":"https://schema.
org","@type":"ImageObject","caption":"Mark Mateschitz is the son of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz. Photo: Getty Images","url":"https://img.i-scmp.
com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto/sites/default/files/d8/images/canvas/2024/08/16/c8fd4f5b-42ea-4635-a35d-e9a091c19cb2_bca2d414.jpg"} Mark Mateschitz is the son of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz. Photo: Getty Images Red Bull heir Mark Mateschitz shot to the top of the young billionaires rich list in 2022 when he inherited 49 per cent of the company following his founder father Dietrich Mateschitz’s death, per Business Insider.
With Red Bull generating US$11.6 billion in revenue and selling 12.1 billion cans worldwide last year alone, according to its website, it’s no wonder Mark’s net worth is in a league of its own.
It seems Red Bull really does give you wings – and a lot of wealth, too. For the first time in 15 years, no self-made billionaires under the age of 30 are on Forbes’ World’s Youngest Billionaires 2024 list – the ‘great wealth transfer’ to the next generation has begun We’re truly in the era of the nepo baby: the youngest on the list is 19-year-old Livia Voigt, who’s still in college, while 7 out of 8 of the list’s richest inherited their wealth.
