20 richest people under 40
Money brings power, and those who are wealthy—particularly billionaires—can have a lot of power in shaping our world. Those who lead businesses naturally have an influence on the way businesses work. They can also affect the global economy and its ability to thrive, not just with the success of their companies, but also by working with government leaders to help shape policy.
The wealthy can also use their vast resources to advance their interests. If they're interested in politics, they can put a lot of money behind their preferred candidates, in hopes of helping them get elected.
Philanthropy is another way the wealthy make their mark on the world. While many wealthy people care deeply about philanthropic causes—nearly 250 have signed the Giving Pledge, a movement where wealthy people commit to giving away vast sums of their wealth during their lifetime—the organizations that benefit from these donations tend to be those that are meaningful to the giver.
People also look to the wealthy to provide the keys to aspirational living. These inadvertent trendsetters can propel brands to new heights.
Once the status symbol of an older generation, wealth is now a goal being attained by some millennials and Gen Zers. Out of the 1,000 richest people in the world, 22 people are under the age of 40, including just one woman. Some are self-made billionaires—quite often in technology companies—while some work in family companies, and others have inherited their wealth.
Stacker compiled a list of the 20 richest people under the age of 40 using data from Forbes. Individuals were ranked by their total wealth, with the richest person taking the #1 spot. Combined, their net worth equals $262.7 billion. To put that into perspective, this cohort would rank 51st in the world for gross domestic output, according to the International Monetary Fund, putting them between Portugal and New Zealand.
Read on to find out who's ahead in shaping how the world looks for years to come.
#13. Cliff Obrecht (tie)
- Age: 37
- Net worth: $3.6 billion
- Global wealth rank: 787
- Source of wealth: Software
- Primary residence: Australia
Cliff Obrecht is half of the husband-wife duo who, with Melanie Perkins, are the brains behind Canva, a design website that makes graphic design easier. Obrecht is currently the chief operating officer of the company, which has more than 100 million users per month. Although a billionaire, Obrecht has pledged to give away most of his fortune to combat global poverty.
#13. Melanie Perkins (tie)
- Age: 36
- Net worth: $3.6 billion
- Global wealth rank: 787
- Source of wealth: Software
- Primary residence: Australia
As a university student, Melanie Perkins had a side hustle teaching design software, but she realized it might be better to create a more intuitive design product. That eventually became Canva, the company she co-founded with her husband Cliff Obrecht. Their success didn't happen overnight though. Perkins and Obrecht got rejected by over 100 venture capital firms before they found an investor.
#13. Josh Kushner (tie)
- Age: 37
- Net worth: $3.6 billion
- Global wealth rank: 791
- Source of wealth: Venture capital
- Primary residence: United States
The Kushner name carries a lot of recognition—Josh's father Charles was a real estate mogul who served time in prison for tax fraud, and his brother Jared was an advisor to former President Donald Trump—yet Josh was the first in his family to make Forbes' list of world's richest people. Kushner started his investing career as an angel investor while he was earning his MBA at Harvard. He has since started Thrive Capital, which has thrived on its investments in Instagram, Stripe, and Kim Kardashian's Skims. Kushner also owns a 2.5% stake in the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team.
#13. Rocco Basilico (tie)
- Age: 33
- Net worth: $3.6 billion
- Global wealth rank: 792
- Source of wealth: Eyeglasses
- Primary residence: Italy
Rocco Basilico is chief wearables officer and head of luxury brands at EssilorLuxottica, the world's largest eyeglasses company. The company was founded by Basilico's stepfather Leonardo Del Vecchio, and he's one of two Del Vecchio heirs still working there. When Del Vecchio died in 2022, he left Basilico a 12.5% stake in Delfin, the holding company that owns one-third of EssilorLuxottica and has stakes in several companies across the banking, insurance, and real estate sector. As chief wearables officer, Basilico partnered with Meta to develop Ray-Ban Stories smart glasses that feature a camera and speakers.
#13. Timur Turlov (tie)
- Age: 35
- Net worth: $3.6 billion
- Global wealth rank: 793
- Source of wealth: Stock brokerage
- Primary residence: Kazakhstan
Timur Turlov founded his brokerage Freedom Holding Corp. in 2008. It specializes in IPOs and operates in Central Asia, Europe, and the U.S. In 2023, it completed the divestiture of its Russian subsidiaries as a result of the Russian government's invasion of Ukraine, an event that also caused Turlov to renounce his Russian citizenship. In 2023, Turlov also became president of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation.
#13. Luca Del Vecchio (tie)
- Age: 21
- Net worth: $3.6 billion
- Global wealth rank: 794
- Source of wealth: Eyeglasses
- Primary residence: Italy
Luca Del Vecchio is another of the Del Vecchio clan who inherited Leonardo Del Vecchio's fortune after the EssilorLuxottica eyeglasses founder died in 2022. This made him one of Italy's youngest billionaires. Luca is one of Leonardo's youngest children from his relationship with Sabina Grossi, former board member and head of investor relations of Luxottica.
#13. Clemente Del Vecchio (tie)
- Age: 19
- Net worth: $3.6 billion
- Global wealth rank: 794
- Source of wealth: Eyeglasses
- Primary residence: Italy
When he inherited his share of his father Leonardo Del Vecchio's fortune, Clemente became the world's youngest billionaire at age 18. He is the youngest child of Leonardo, who had him and his brother Luca with Sabina Grossi. It's unclear, but unlikely that he yet has a major role at EssilorLuxottica, which owns the Ray-Ban, Oakley, and Oliver Peoples sunglasses brands.
#13. Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio (tie)
- Age: 28
- Net worth: $3.6 billion
- Global wealth rank: 794
- Source of wealth: Eyeglasses
- Primary residence: Italy
Part of the Del Vecchio clan, Leonardo Maria is Leonardo Del Vecchio's fourth child and second-oldest son. Leonardo Maria is one of two Del Vecchio siblings to work at the company where their father made his fortune. He's the chief strategy officer at EssilorLuxottica. During his time at the company, he has been responsible for launching Ray-Ban flagship stores in Verona, Milan, and Rome.
#12. Chen Tianshi
- Age: 38
- Net worth: $4 billion
- Global wealth rank: 705
- Source of wealth: Semiconductors
- Primary residence: China
Wunderkind Chen Tianshi started college at age 16 and got his doctorate in computer science by age 24. From there, he and his older brother Chen Yunji went on to found Cambricon Technologies Corp., a supplier of microchips for AI applications. The company's chips have been in high demand—they've been used in over 100 million smartphones and servers—due to their ability to power AI more cheaply.
#11. Maximilian Viessmann
- Age: 34
- Net worth: $4.6 billion
- Global wealth rank: 595
- Source of wealth: Heating, cooling equipment
- Primary residence: Germany
The fourth generation to lead Viessmann—a global heating, cooling, and renewable energy company—Maximilian strengthened his business acumen first as a consultant, then as an angel investor. He joined the family business in 2016 to overhaul its digital strategy, and worked his way up the management ranks to co-lead the company with his father Professor Dr. Martin Viessmann until 2022, when he became the CEO. Viessmann, who owns just over half of the company, grew his bank account in 2023 when competitor Carrier acquired Viessmann's heat boiler and pump business unit for 12 billion euros and gave Maximilian a seat on its board.
#9. Patrick Collison (tie)
- Age: 34
- Net worth: $5.5 billion
- Global wealth rank: 479
- Source of wealth: Payment software
- Primary residence: Ireland
Patrick Collison and his younger brother John co-founded Stripe, a technology company that makes it easy for websites to accept credit card payments—and takes a fee for processing those payments. The Collison brothers started the company in 2010 after dropping out of college, and they split leadership duties, with Patrick assuming the role of CEO. Patrick is also an avid reader and keeps a list of the books in his library on his personal website.
#9. John Collison (tie)
- Age: 32
- Net worth: $5.5 billion
- Global wealth rank: 479
- Source of wealth: Payments software
- Primary residence: Ireland
Stripe President John Collision followed his older brother Patrick from their home near Limerick, Ireland, to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for college—John went to Harvard, while Patrick was at MIT. Stripe is considered among the world's most valuable startups, but that's not their first company. While John was still in secondary school, he and Patrick paired up with another set of brothers to create a software startup called Auctomatic that did tracking for eBay sellers. The quartet sold the company for $5 million in 2008.
#8. Dmitri Bukhman
- Age: 38
- Net worth: $7 billion
- Global wealth rank: 327
- Source of wealth: Online games
- Primary residence: Israel
Russian-born Bukhman made his fortune by teaming up with his older brother Igor to found Playrix, the mobile gaming company responsible for creating Gardenscapes, Homescapes, Fishdom, Township, and Manor Matters. Bukhman became an Israeli citizen in 2016 and now consistently ranks as one of the richest Israelis. In 2021, the Bukhmans started their own investment firm Rix Capital, which is headquartered in London.
#7. Nathan Blecharczyk
- Age: 39
- Net worth: $7.7 billion
- Global wealth rank: 279
- Source of wealth: Airbnb
- Primary residence: United States
Airbnb co-founder and chief strategy officer Nathan Blecharczyk walks the walk of his company—he's not just an executive, he's also an Airbnb host, who regularly welcomes users into his San Francisco home. One of Blecharczyk's recent initiatives is Airbnb City Portal, a data-sharing tool for city governments and tourism organizations that launched in 2020. Blecharczyk and his wife Elizabeth have signed The Giving Pledge, a commitment to give most of their fortune to philanthropic causes.
#6. Chris Xu
- Age: 39
- Net worth: $10.5 billion
- Global wealth rank: 168
- Source of wealth: E-commerce
- Primary residence: China
Chris Xu reinvented just how fast fast-fashion can be at his company Shein, a favorite of Gen Z fashionistas. The company churns out new styles continuously, testing them in small batches to see how well they sell before replenishing stock. In a 2021 comparison with rivals Zara and H&M, Shein added more than 20 times the number of new products to its inventory, all sold at incredibly low prices. Shein also hooks in shoppers by gamifying many aspects of its site, which keeps customers coming back for more on a daily basis.
#5. Pavel Durov
- Age: 38
- Net worth: $11.5 billion
- Global wealth rank: 147
- Source of wealth: Messaging app
- Primary residence: United Arab Emirates
Tech mogul Pavel Durov first hit it big with VKontakte, Russia's most popular social networking platform, which he founded in 2006. After refusing to allow the Russian government to have access to VKontakte user data, he was fired from the company and had to flee the country. A proponent of free speech, his follow-up creation was Telegram, a private messaging app, which in 2022 had over 700 million active users each month.
#4. Dustin Moskovitz
- Age: 39
- Net worth: $12.2 billion
- Global wealth rank: 141
- Source of wealth: Facebook
- Primary residence: United States
A random roommate pairing brought together Dustin Moskovitz and Mark Zuckerberg for their sophomore year at Harvard University, during which they launched Facebook. Moskovitz left the company in 2008 to found Asana, a software company that helps employees collaborate without relying on email. Moskovitz and his wife Cari Tuna have signed The Giving Pledge to donate and invest in causes that improve global health, safety, and economic well-being. To that end, they founded Good Ventures and partnered with Open Philanthropy to fund their pledge goals.
#3. Lukas Walton
- Age: 36
- Net worth: $22.3 billion
- Global wealth rank: 69
- Source of wealth: Walmart
- Primary residence: United States
Grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton, Lukas Walton inherited his share of the family fortune when his father John died in a plane crash in 2005. Committed to environmental causes, Walton founded Seed2Growth Ventures, a venture capital group with 2023 assets of $2 billion that invests in sustainable agricultural and food companies like Beyond Meat and The Plant Based Seafood Co. Walton also sits on the board of the Walton Family Foundation and chairs its Environment Program Committee.
#2. Mark Mateschitz
- Age: 31
- Net worth: $39.3 billion
- Global wealth rank: 28
- Source of wealth: Red Bull
- Primary residence: Austria
After his father's death in 2022, Mark Mateschitz inherited the Red Bull founder's 49% stake in the company, which put him atop the list of richest Austrians and made him one of the richest millennials in the world. He opted to step down from his role in the company as head of organics. But he sits on the board of the Red Bull Wings for Life Foundation, which raises money for research on spinal cord injuries.
#1. Mark Zuckerberg
- Age: 39
- Net worth: $97 billion
- Global wealth rank: 11
- Source of wealth: Facebook
- Primary residence: United States
The brains behind Facebook became the youngest-ever self-made billionaire at age 23 when the company had its IPO. The social media company, since renamed Meta Platforms, also owns Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, and is making forays into the metaverse with virtual reality products and smart glasses. Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have their own foundation called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative that's geared toward creating improvements in science, education, and building stronger communities.
Data reporting by Elena Cox. Story editing by Jeff Inglis. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. Photo selection by Lacy Kerrick.
