Billionaires Under 40: 5 Entrepreneurs Who Made History

Becoming a billionaire is the dream of many young trailblazers across the world. With entrepreneurs attaining billionaire status under 40, this dream has become more possible than ever before.

Globally, energetic and creative young entrepreneurs have made history by earning their first billion under the age of 40. 

It is also important to note that these extraordinary men achieved success by harnessing opportunities in technology.  They identified a need and created a technological solution to it. Let’s take a look at some entrepreneurs whose wealth, broke out before 40. Ready? Let’s jump in.

Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg began his billionaire journey when he founded Facebook for Havard students to match names with photos of classmates at age 19. In 2006, he became a millionaire at 23, when Facebook became a social media app with users from different races across the globe. It didn’t take long for the self-made millionaire to become a billionaire. Reports say Facebook’s IPO made him the youngest billionaire at age 25. Zuckerberg currently owns about 13% of Facebook’s stock. He currently has a net worth of $ 43.9 billion.

Evan Spiegel 

Evan Spiegel is the co-founder and CEO of Snapchat. Spiegel became a billionaire at the age of 25 when the value of his Snapchat shares reached $1 Billion. Snapchat is one of the popular messaging apps that allows users to exchange pictures and videos (called snaps). These snaps are meant to disappear after they’re viewed. Spiegel launched the company with Boby Murphy in 2011. Snapchat can also be described as a “new type of camera” because the essential function is to take a picture or video, add filters, lenses or other effects and share them with friends.  Spiegel has a net worth of $2.6 Billion.

Larry Page

Larry Page is the co-founder and Board member of Google. He co-founded Google in 1998 with Sergey Brin when they were PhD students at Standford. Page invented Google’s PageRank algorithm, which powers the search engine with Brin. Page, however, became a self-made billionaire when the company’s IPO sent his net worth over $I billion at the age of 30. With a net worth of $83.3 billion, Page is a founding investor in space exploration company Planetary Resources. The billionaire also funds “flying car” startups Kitty Hawk and Opener.

Bill Gates

With a net worth of $103.3 billion, Gates became a billionaire at the age of 31. His wealth is attributed to the proceeds generated from the IPO of Microsoft, a company he co-founded with Paul Allen. Known as the youngest billionaire in 1986, Gates has turned his fortune from Microsft into diversified holdings including investments in zero-carbon energy. The self-made billionaire has donated more than $59 billion to the Gates Foundation.

Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos became a self-made billionaire at the age of 35. He founded the e-commerce giant, Amazon in Seattle. Like the others, he became a billionaire when his company’s IPO generated more funds. Bezos owns a little less than 10% of the company. He also owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace company developing rockets. With a net worth of $120.4 billion, Bezos recently became the third richest person in the world.

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