The youngest billionaires in the world are yet to see the age of 30 but their combined net worth exceeds $US10 billion ($12.9 billion).
Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel, 26, and Stripe co-founder John Collison, 26, are the youngest tech founders to make Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list, with estimated net worth of $US4 billion ($5.2 billion) and $US1.1 billion ($1.4 billion), respectively.
Last year, Collison told StartupSmart, the success of Stripe has not come from him alone.
“One thing that irks me to no end is the emphasis on the founders — it’s so misplaced,” he said.
“When you look at how companies actually run, there are a huge number of really experienced, qualified managers that are a very significant part of making them tick.”
Atlassian co-founders Mike Cannon-Brookes, 37, and Scott Farquhar, 37, are the only Australian tech founders to make the list, with an estimated net worth of $US2.1 billion ($2.7 billion) each.
Women are notably missing from the top young tech billionaires in the world but Laurene Powell Jobs, 53, features as the richest female tech founder with an estimated net worth of $US20 billion ($25.9 billion). Jobs is the founder and chair of Emerson Collective and College Track, and holds shares in Apple, which was co-founded by her late husband, Steve Jobs.
She’s followed by Lens Technology founder Zhou Qunfei, 47, with an estimated net worth of $US7.4 billion ($9.6 billion), tech businesswoman Wang Laichun, 49, whose net worth is estimated to be $US1.7 billion ($2.2 billion), and SHI International co-founder Thai Lee, 58, with an estimated net worth of $US1.6 billion ($2 billion).
1. Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel, 26, estimated net worth: $US4 billion ($5.2 billion)
2. Stripe co-founder John Collison, 26, estimated net worth: $US1.1 billion ($1.4 billion)
3. Snapchat co-founder Bobby Murphy, 28, estimated net worth: $US4 billion
4. Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison, 28, estimated net worth: $US1.1 billion
5. Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, 32, estimated net worth: $US56 billion ($72.5 billion)
6. Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, 32, estimated net worth: $US10.7 billion ($13.8 billion)
7. Airbnb co-founder Nathan Blecharczyk, 33, estimated net worth: $US3.8 billion ($4.9 billion)
8. Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom, 33, estimated net worth: $US1.2 billion ($1.6 billion)
9. Pinterest co-founder Ben Silbermann, 34, estimated net worth: $US1.6 billion ($2 billion)
10. Dropbox founder Drew Houston, 34, estimated net worth: $1 billion ($1.3 billion); and Pinterest co-founder Evan Sharp, 34, estimated net worth: $US1 billion.
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Dinushi Dias is a freelance journalist and a former StartupSmart reporter and multimedia content producer. She is the co-founder of Melbourne-based production house Dinushi & Power.
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