Some people don’t need to spend a lifetime building wealth. Forbes just dropped its World’s Billionaires List, which ranks and profiles the richest people in the world. The 2,095 billionaires on the list are worth a collective total of US$8 trillion, down US$700 billion from their collective worth in 2019. The youngest billionaire in America is 22-year-old Kylie Cosmetics founder Kylie Jenner, followed by Snapchat co-founder Evan Spiegel.
Together, the 15 youngest billionaires in America are worth more than US$100 billion. Here they are, listed in order from oldest to youngest.
1. Kylie Jenner, founder of Kylie Cosmetics
Kylie Jenner founded Kylie Cosmetics in 2015. By 2019, Forbes had dubbed her the “youngest self-made billionaire” ever. Having previously owned 100 per cent of her business, in late 2019 Jenner agreed to sell a 51 per cent stake in her company to beauty conglomerate Coty Inc. for US$600 million. The deal valued Kylie Cosmetics at US$1.2 billion.
2. Evan Spiegel, co-founder and CEO of Snapchat
Evan Spiegel co-founded multimedia messaging app Snapchat with Murphy. He and Murphy each own roughly 18 per cent of Snap, but have voting shares that allow them control over the board. He’s only one of three self-made billionaires in the world not yet 30 and as of 2019 had donated nearly US$65 million in Snap stock. Spiegel is married to supermodel Miranda Kerr.
3. Bobby Murphy, co-founder and chief technology officer of Snapchat
Bobby Murphy co-founded Snapchat with his Stanford fraternity brother Evan Spiegel. As of January 2019, Snap Inc. was worth under US$8 billion, CNBC reported. As Business Insider reported in 2017, Murphy keeps a relatively low profile and has only given a handful of interviews.
4. Lukas Walton, heir to the Walmart fortune
Lukas Walton is the grandson of Sam Walton, who founded Walmart. When his father, John Walton, died in a plane crash in 2005, he inherited about one-third of John’s estate. While he owns a stake in Walmart, he doesn’t work for the company and devotes time to philanthropic causes. The Waltons are the richest family in the US. Three of Lukas’ relatives are among the top 15 wealthiest billionaires in the world.
