There are currently 1,125 billionaires on Forbes’ list of the richest people in the world. Their average age is 61 years old. The next crop of potential billionaires is an impressive lot of entrepreneurs who are younger by nearly half in some cases.
Earlier this year a Michael Birch and his wife Xochi Birch sold their social networking website Bebo for $850 million to AOL. The couple are 38 and 36 years old. Previously, they created and later sold BirthdayAlarm.com and Ringo.com. Their latest endeavor is MyStore.com – he joined the board and became an investor in June 2008.
Tiger Woods, at 32 years old, may well be the first billionaire to make his money through sports. His endorsement deals put him on track to hit the billion mark within three years, provided his knee surgery is successful and his desire to play remains constant.
Nishita Shah is 27 years old and one of the wealthiest people in Thailand, reportedly earning $350 million in 2007. She is director of Precious Shipping, her countries biggest dry goods shipper. She is not only business savvy but stunning as well and is often seen in magazines. She is also planning a line of fashions.
Elon Musk made his first $22 million at 27 when he sold Zip2. He then co-founded PayPal and later sold it to eBay, receiving $170 million in eBay stock – which has appreciated considerably. He is now 37 and has developed SpaceX, a company that wants to provide cheap space travel for governments and satellite companies. The company is still working out the kinks but is reportedly making a profit after only 18 months. Not comfortable with just one iron in the fire, he’s also looking at manufacturing electric sports cars and designing solar panels.
Roelof Botha, at 34 years old, invested early in YouTube. He has reaped a 65 fold return on his investment thus far. The venture capitalist is with Sequoia Capital who also employs billionaire Michael Moritz.
Check out their photos below – click to enlarge.
Source: Forbes.com