Johannes von Baumbach Becomes the World’s Youngest Billionaire in 2025

Johannes von Baumbach, 19, leads Forbes’ 2025 list as the world’s youngest billionaire, with a real-time net worth of $5.7 billion, placing him at 636 globally as of June 24, 2025. His wealth stems from Boehringer Ingelheim, the world’s largest privately owned pharmaceutical firm, which remains fully controlled by his family.

Boehringer Ingelheim traces its origins to 1885, when Albert Boehringer began supplying chemicals to German pharmacies, textile merchants, and the food industry. Over the decades, the company expanded globally, pioneering treatments for respiratory ailments (COPD), anticoagulation therapy and type 2 diabetes. By 2024, it employed roughly 54,500 people across 78 countries and generated about $6.7 billion in revenue.

Today, Boehringer Ingelheim remains privately held by the Boehringer, Liebrecht and von Baumbach families. Johannes inherits his stake through his branch of this dynasty, spotlighting how family-owned firms can sustain multi-generational wealth without public shareholders.

Personal Profile

• Age: 19
  
• Net Worth: $5.7 billion (Real-Time, Forbes)
  
• Global Rank: #636 (Forbes Real-Time, 6/24/25)
  
• Source of Wealth: Inherited stake in Boehringer Ingelheim (Pharmaceuticals)
  
• Residence: Ingelheim, Germany
  
• Citizenship: Germany
  

The von Baumbach family is famously publicity-shy. Johannes attends secondary school near Boehringer Ingelheim’s headquarters in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany. He has no executive role or board seat in the company; instead, he balances academics with quietly stewarding his inherited shares.

Though details of his daily life are scarce, press reports note that Johannes enjoys competitive skiing in Austria, a nod to the family’s European roots and traditions of private education and active pursuits.

Since 2016, Johannes’s uncle, Hubertus von Baumbach, has served as CEO and Chairman, marking the first family member to hold this position in 25 years. Under Hubertus’s leadership, Boehringer Ingelheim executed a major asset swap with Sanofi in 2016, exchanging its consumer health division for Merial’s animal health arm, to bolster its position in both human and veterinary pharmaceuticals.

Though Johannes and his three older siblings (aged 23, 25 and 27) each hold roughly $5.4 billion, none have publicly joined corporate governance. Analysts expect them to pursue higher education or professional apprenticeships before considering operational roles, following a familiar pattern among heirs to large private firms.

What Johannes’s Wealth Represents

Johannes von Baumbach’s wealth represents several broader trends:

Family-Owned Powerhouses: Private companies like Boehringer Ingelheim can create enduring fortunes and maintain strategic agility without public market pressures.

Generational Transition: As the fourth generation, Johannes represents the shift from founder-led to heir-led stewardship,a process that many family firms navigate carefully through education and mentorship.

Pharmaceutical Growth: Boehringer Ingelheim’s focus on chronic and respiratory diseases taps into global healthcare needs, ensuring steady cash flow to support dividend-like payouts to its owners.