Have you ever wondered who the youngest billionaires in the world are? Get ready to find out.
In the exclusive world of extreme wealth, billionaires epitomize unprecedented financial success. Their fortunes sometimes eclipse the GDP of small nations and symbolize not only individual prosperity but also far-reaching global influence.
While the typical billionaire is often portrayed as an old man who took decades to build his fortune, the number of young billionaires of both genders is growing at an increasing rate, and they are amassing their fortune over a shorter period.
This article uncovers the ten youngest billionaires and how they became rich.
12 Youngest Billionaires In The World
| Rank | Name | How? | Age | Net Worth (USD) |
| 1 | Livia Voigt | Inheritance | 20 | $1.1 Billion |
| 2 | Clemente Del Vecchio | Inheritance | 20 | $3.9 Billion |
| 3 | Kim Jung-youn | Inheritance | 20 | $1.3 Billion |
| 4 | Kevin David Lehmann | Inheritance | 22 | $2.5 Billion |
| 5 | Kim Jung-min | Inheritance | 22 | $1.3 Billion |
| 6 | Luca Del Vecchio | Inheritance | 23 | $3.9 Billion |
| 7 | Dora Voigt de Assis | Inheritance | 27 | $1.1 Billion |
| 8 | Alexandra Andresen | Inheritance | 28 | $1.5 Billion |
| 9 | Wang Zelong | Inheritance | 28 | $1.4 Billion |
| 10 | Austin Russell | Self-made | 29 | $1.6 Billion |
| 11 | Katharina Andresen | Inheritance | 29 | $1.5 Billion |
| 12 | Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio | Inheritance | 29 | $3.9 Billion |
| 13 | Ryan Breslow | Self-made | 30 | $1.1 Billion |
| 14 | Gustav Magnar Witzor | Inheritance | 31 | $3.5 Billion |
As you go through the list, you will notice that the vast majority of these young billionaires are siblings who inherited their wealth and play no operational role in the company that underlies their wealth. This makes the few self-made individuals particularly laudable.
Livia Voigt
- Date of Birth: Jul 10, 2004 (age 20)
- Citizenship: Brazil
- Source of Wealth: Industrial Machinery
- Net Worth: $4.1 Billion
Livia Voigt is the youngest billionaire in the world, according to Forbes. Born in Florianópolis, Brazil, she is the granddaughter of Werner Ricardo Voigt, co-founder of WEG SA (a Brazilian multinational company that produces electrical equipment) along with late billionaires Geraldo Werninghaus and Eggon Joao da Silva.
Livia became a billionaire in 2014 after inheriting her fortune, along with her older sister, Dora Voigt de Assis. She does not hold any executive position or a board seat at WEG.
Clemente Del Vecchio
- Date of Birth: May 14, 2004 (age 20)
- Citizenship: Italy
- Source of Wealth: Eyewear
- Net Worth: $4.1 Billion
Clemente Del Vecchio is the youngest billionaire in the world. One of six siblings, he is the youngest child of the late Leonardo Del Vecchio, a successful Italian businessman who founded and served as the chairman of Luxembourg-based Delfin, the holding company of Luxottica and other assets.
Luxottica is the world’s largest producer and retailer of eyeglasses and frames.
When Leonardo Del Vecchio died in June 2022, he divided his estimated net worth of 24.1 billion between his children, instantly making Clemente Del Vecchio a billionaire at the age of 18.
Kim Jung-youn
- Date of Birth: 2004 (age: 20)
- Citizenship: South Korea
- Source of Wealth: Online gaming
- Net Worth: $1 Billion
Kim Jung-youn is the youngest child of the late Kim Jung-ju, a South Korean gaming pioneer who founded Nexon, one of the largest online gaming companies in the world. A substantial portion of Kim Jung-ju’s stake in Nexon was passed down to his two children after he passed away in February 2022.
Jung-youn and his older sister, Jung-min, collectively hold approximately 31 percent of NXC, making them the largest shareholder in the company. Neither sister plays an active role in the company’s operations.
Kevin David Lehmann
- Date of Birth: September 2002 (age: 22)
- Citizenship: Germany
- Source of Wealth: Drugstores
- Net Worth: $2.6 Billion
Kevin David Lehmann holds a 50 percent stake in Germany’s largest drugstore chain, drogerie markt (dm).
dm was founded in 1973 by Goetz Werner in Karlsruhe, Germany. Kevin David’s father, Guenther, who had been managing the Lehmann family’s Pfannkuch grocery chain, invested heavily in the fledgling drug chain a year later, massively growing his wealth as the company grew.
In 2017, Guenther transferred his 50 percent ownership in dm to his son, then just 14 years old. It remained under trusteeship until Kevin David turned 18, at which point he became one of the youngest billionaires in the world.
Both Kevin David Lehmann and his father are not involved in the operations of dm and live very private lives.
Kim Jung-min
- Date of Birth: 2002 (age: 22)
- Citizenship: South Korea
- Source of Wealth: Online gaming
- Net Worth: $1 Billion
Jung-min is the older sister of Jung-youn and, like her sister, inherited her fortune from their late father Kim Jung-ju, the founder of online gaming giant Nexon.
The two sisters collectively hold a 31 stake in Nexon, enough to solidify their positions among the youngest of young billionaires. Both maintain a private profile and aren’t involved in the company’s operations.
Luca Del Vecchio
- Date of Birth: 2001 (age: 23)
- Citizenship: Italy
- Source of Wealth: Eyeglasses
- Net Worth: $4.1 Billion
One of the six children of the late Leonardo Del Vecchio and the second youngest after Clemente Del Vecchio, Luca Del Vecchio inherited a 12.5 percent stake in the Luxembourg-based holding company Delfin after the death of his father.
Delfin’s extensive portfolio consists of eyeglasses maker and retailer Luxottica, as well as shares in financial institutions Generali, Mediobanca, and UniCredit and the real estate developer Covivio.
Like Clement, Luca is not involved in the operations of Delfin or any of its businesses.
Dora Voigt de Assis
- Date of Birth: 1997 (age: 27)
- Citizenship: Brazil
- Source of Wealth: Industrial Machinery
- Net Worth: $1.1 Billion
Dora Voigt de Assis is the older sister of Livia Voigt, the youngest billionaire in the world. Like her sister, she inherited one of the largest individual ownership stakes in WEG, a large multinational manufacturer of electrical motors co-founded by her grandfather Werner Ricardo Voigt.
Dora graduated from university in 2020 with a degree in architecture. She does not hold a board seat or any executive position at WEG.
Alexandra Andresen
- Date of Birth: July 23, 1996 (age: 28)
- Citizenship: Norway
- Source of wealth: Investments
- Net Worth: $1.6 Billion
Alexandra Andresen and her older sister, Katharina, each inherited a 42 percent ownership stake in the family-owned holding company Ferd from their father, Johan H. Andresen. Ferd holds partial ownership in companies within the finance, real estate, and industrial production industries.
Johan transferred most of the Ferd Holding shares to his daughters in 2007 but retained control of the company through a dual-class share structure that grants him 70 percent of voting rights.
Alexandra is a dressage athlete with multiple awards and honors under her belt. She has also modeled for the equestrian clothing company KingsLand.
Wang Zelong
- Date of Birth: 1996 (age: 28)
- Citizenship: China
- Source of wealth: Pigment production
- Net Worth: $1.4 Billion
Wang Zelong is the Youngest billionaire in China, a title he attained after inheriting a stake of over $1.3 billion in CNNC Hua Yuan Titanium Dioxide Co., a chemical company that produces titanium dioxide, an inorganic compound used to create white pigment for materials such as paint and paper.
He has stakes in Lomon Billions Group, another company that produces titanium dioxide.
Austin Russell
- Date of Birth: March 14, 1995 (age: 29)
- Citizenship: United States
- Source of wealth: Sensors
- Net Worth: $1.6 Billion
Austin Russel is an optics prodigy who founded the automotive sensor firm Luminar Technologies. Like many self-made billionaires, he dropped out of college (Stanford University) to embark on the journey of starting and growing the company.
In 2020, Austin became the youngest self-made billionaire at the age of 25 after Luminar Technologies went public, a title he still retains. He is the youngest billionaire in the United States.
Katharina Andresen
- Age: May 21, 1995 (age: 29)
- Citizenship: Norway
- Source of Wealth:
- Net Worth: $1.6 Billion
Katharina Andresen is the second and older daughter of Johan H. Andresen Jr., the owner of Norwegian holding company Ferd AS who transferred 42.2 percent ownership stake to each of his daughters.
Both Katharina and her sister, Alexandra, come from a prominent family of politicians and industrialists, including a great-grandfather who was a politician in Norway’s Conservative Party and a great-great-grandfather who laid the foundation of what became the Nordea Bank Norge.
Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio
- Date of Birth: 1995 (age: 29)
- Citizenship: Italy
- Source of Wealth: Eyewear
- Net Worth: $4.1 Billion
Leonardo Maria is the third member of the Vecchio family to rank among the ten youngest billionaires in the world.
Like his younger billionaire brothers, Clemente and Luca, he inherited a 12.5 percent ownership stake in Delfin, the Luxembourg-based holding company their father founded and owned before his death in 2022. Unlike them, he is involved in the company’s operations.
Delfin has a controlling stake in eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica, where Leonardo Maria serves as chief strategy officer.
Ryan Breslow
- Date of Birth: 1994 (age: 30)
- Citizenship: United States
- Source of Wealth: E-commerce
- Net Worth: $1.1 Billion
Ryan Breslow is one of the few self-made billionaires on our youngest billionaire list. He made the bold move to drop out of Stanford in 2014 to launch the FinTech startup Bolt, leading the company to become a multibillion-dollar one-click online payment platform.
Breslow used online tutorials and YouTube videos to teach himself how to code and initially operated Bolt out of his dorm room. In addition to Bolt, he founded or co-founded the non-profit dance startup The Movement, digital cryptocurrency platform Eco, and crypto pharmaceutical startup Love.
Gustav Magnar Witzoe
- Date of Birth: February 8, 1993 (age: 31)
- Citizenship: Norway
- Source of wealth: Fish farming
- Net Worth: $3.5 Billion
Gustav Magnar Witzoe owns nearly 50 percent of Salmar ASA, one of the world’s largest salmon farmers, making him the youngest billionaire in Norway. His fortune was inherited from his father, Gustav Witzoe, who founded Salmar in 1991 and handed down ownership for inheritance tax purposes.
The younger Gustav doesn’t play an operational role in the company despite his controlling stake. With the elder Gustav retaining operational responsibility, he has instead ventured into real estate and tech startup investing.
Conclusion
This article provided you with a list of the ten youngest billionaires in the world. While most of them inherited their wealth, a few demonstrated the dynamism of contemporary wealth accumulation.
Born on May 14, 2004, Clemente Del Vecchio is currently the world’s youngest billionaire. He became a billionaire at the age of 18 after inheriting his fortune from his late father, Leonardo Del Vecchio. Austin Russell is the youngest self-made billionaire on our list and the youngest billionaire in America, while Kim Jung-youn of South Korea is the youngest billionaire in Asia.
