Bernard Arnault (75 years old), Jeff Bezos (60), Elon Musk (52), Mark Zuckerberg (40), Larry Page (51), Bill Gates (68), Sergey Brin (50), Steve Ballmer (68), Larry Ellison (79), Warren Buffett (93)… Although the shade of gray varies from case to case, in general, the list of the richest people in the world has gray hair. These 10 names were the top of the world wealth rankings, but even among the top 500 billionaires on the planet, according to a cross-section of data from Forbes and Bloomberg, there is none who is under 30 years old. The first indicates that the average age of billionaires is 66 years, but that does not mean that there are not a few young and very rich people who break the norm. The greatest exponents of this exception are Livia Voigt (19 years old), Clemente Del Vecchio (20) and Kim Jung-Youn (20), at such a young age, they already amass a fortune of at least 1,000 million dollars.
If you look at the figures compiled by the Federal Reserve on how wealth is distributed in the United States by generations, it is not surprising that there are few millionaires under 30 in the records. As one would expect, with few exceptions, net wealth increases as years go by and this happens both among millionaires and among the majority of the population.
Specifically, the Fed points out that at the end of 2023, the baby boomers (the generation between 1946 and 1964) were the richest, amassing a combined wealth valued at $76.17 trillion. They are followed by generation X (1965/1980) with 37.77 billion dollars. Thirdly, there is the silent generation (1928-1945), which has 19.69 billion to its credit, while, finally, the millennials (1981/1996) and the younger generations such as the Z (1997/2012), with a combined net wealth of $13.5 trillion.
However, almost nothing lasts forever, much less material things. As the years take their toll, what experts call the “great transfer of wealth” will occur. According to a report by Merrill Lynch, in the next 20 years, assets valued at 72 trillion dollars are expected to be transferred via inheritance. If the bank’s analysts are right, the bulk will fall on generation Whether the big transfer occurs or not, some billionaires under 30 have already joined the ranks of the Forbes list thanks to inheritances.
The Mistry Brothers
With a fortune of $6.8 billion each, Zahan (25 years old) and Firoz Mistry (27) are the richest billionaires in this select club. An Irish national, their assets come mainly from the part they inherited from Tata Sons, the parent company of the Indian megacorporation behind Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Steel, Tata Motors and 15 other listed companies. In total, the 18 listed companies owned by Tata Sons are collectively worth more than $296 billion. According to local Indian media, when Cyrus Mistry, Zahan and Firoz’s father, died in a traffic accident, he left these brothers and his wife the 9.2% of Tata Sons that was in his possession. . Distributed at the rate of 4.6% for the children and another 4.6% for the wife, Zahan and Mistry own around 2.3% of Tata Sons each.
The Del Vecchio brothers
Clemente (20), Luca (22) and Leonardo Maria Del Vecchio (28) each have a net worth of around $4.8 billion. The death of the second richest man in Italy, his father, Leonardo Del Vecchio, left a large fortune to be distributed between his second wife and his six children. The wife, Nicoletta Zampillo, inherited 25% of Delfin, the name of the Luxembourg holding company through which this billionaire managed all of his investments. The six children received 12.5% of the holding each. Delfin also has investments in Generali, Mediobanca or UniCredit, but the jewel in the crown is another: EssilorLuxottica. Although the name may not be familiar to everyone, it is the largest eyewear company on the planet, valued at 94.7 billion euros and is the owner of brands such as RayBan. Delfin owns 31.88% of EssilorLuxottica.
Kevin David Lehmann
At 21 years old, this young German has an estimated wealth of $3.3 billion thanks to the pharmacy chain Drogerie Markt, better known as DM. According to local German media, his father, Günther Lehmann, bought 50% of DM shortly after starting this chain, which over the years became a giant. According to the data that the company itself provides on its website, as of September 30, 2023, DM had generated income of 15,910 million euros in the last year thanks to its 79,745 employees and 4,036 stores. Little is known about Kevin, but it is known when and how he accessed his estate. At the age of 14, Günther transferred that 50% of DM to him, but until he turned 18 he could not dispose of it.
Rémi Dassault
Without exact figures of how much his wealth is, at 23 years old, Forbes estimates it at 2.5 billion dollars. Like her sister Héléna (34 years old) or her brother Thomas (13), she inherited it in 2021 when her father, Olivier Dassault, died in a helicopter accident. The Dassault family is one of the great sagas of France. Through the Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault (GIMD) holding company, the family as a whole controls 40.02% of Dassault Systèmes, a publicly traded multinational valued at €52.41 billion. In addition, GIMD owns 65.81% of Dassault Aviation, a real estate company, an antiques and art trading house called Artcurial, vineyards spread across different parts of France, and the newspaper Le Figaro. The participation that Rémi, Héléna or Thomas have in GIMD has not been revealed.
The Andresen Sisters
The great-great-grandfather of Katharina (28) and Alexandra (27) Andresen bought the tobacco manufacturer Tiedemanns Tobaksfabrik in 1849. From that factory, he built a family empire that has survived to this day. The Andresens’ wealth shifted away from tobacco and toward investing through their vehicle called Ferd. Both Katharina and Alexandra own 42% of Ferd. According to the preliminary summary for the end of the year 2023, Ferd has assets valued at 4,297 million dollars, 8.6% more than in 2022. Katherina is a member of the Ferd board after years as an observer, while Alexandra, also a member of the advice, she is best known for being a great passionate about horse riding, a discipline in which she has become Norwegian junior champion three times. As in the case of German billionaire Kevin David Lehmann, her father, Johan H. Andersen, now 62 years old, gave them the shares during his lifetime.
The Kim Jung Sisters
Kim Jung-youn (20 years old) and Kim Jung-min (22 years old), like other young billionaires on this list, remain anonymous and little is known about them. Daughters of Kim Jung-ju, founder of Nexon, a large publicly traded online gaming company worth a total of $13,689 million, they have an estimated wealth of $1,230 million thanks to the 9% of the company they inherited each a. According to the Korean media Chosun Daily, in 2022, when their father died, they had to pay $4.389 million in inheritance tax, facing a tax rate of 60% on what they had inherited.
The Voigt Sisters
Werner Ricardo Voigt, the grandfather of Livia (19) and Dora (27), founded what is today the main electric motor and industrial equipment company in all of Latin America: WEG. Livia has risen to fame after this year she became the youngest billionaire on the Forbes list worldwide, since the second by age who appears, Clemente Del Vecchio, turned 20 on May 14. Livia will meet them in July. Both the little sister and the eldest own 3.1% of WEG, which gives them assets each valued at about $1 billion. According to different Brazilian media, Livia studies Psychology at the university, while Dora leaned towards architecture. Neither of the two sisters holds positions within the family business.
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