Failed biotech company Theranos allegedly deceived investors and patients, according to the DOJ. Take a look back on how Elizabeth Holmes and her billion-dollar idea crashed.
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and former CEO of failed biotech startup Theranos, went from being hailed as the next Steve Jobs to facing up to 20 years in prison over federal fraud charges. How did Holmes get here?
A Stanford University dropout, Holmes — inspired by her own fear of needles — started the company at the age of 19, with a mission of creating a cheaper, more efficient alternative to a traditional blood test. Theranos promised patients the ability to test for conditions like cancer and diabetes with just a few drops of blood. She attracted hundreds of millions of dollars in funding, a board of well-known political figures, and key retail partners.
But a Wall Street Journal investigation poked holes into Theranos’ testing and technology, and the dominoes fell from there. Holmes and her former business partner, Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, were charged in 2018 by the U.S. government with multiple counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. (Both have pleaded not guilty.) More than three years later, Holmes is finally getting her day in court.
Here are the highlights of the rise and fall of Holmes and Theranos.
March 2004: Holmes drops out of Stanford to pursue Theranos
Holmes, a Stanford University sophomore studying chemical engineering, drops out of school to pursue her startup, Theranos, which she founded in 2003 at age 19. The name is a combination of the words “therapy” and “diagnosis.”
September 2009: Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani joins Theranos as Holmes’ right-hand man
Balwani joins as chief operating officer and president of the startup. Balwani, nearly 20 years her senior, met Holmes in 2002 on a trip to Beijing through Stanford University. The two are later revealed to be romantically involved.
September 2013: Holmes opens up about Theranos; announces Walgreens partnership
A decade after first starting the company, Holmes takes the lid off Theranos and courts media attention the same month that Theranos and Walgreens announce they’ve struck up a long-term partnership. The first Theranos Wellness Center location opens in a Walgreens in Palo Alto where consumers can access Theranos’ blood test.
The original plan had been to make Theranos’ testing available at Walgreens locations nationwide.
Elizabeth Holmes, the founder and former CEO of failed biotech startup Theranos, went from being hailed as the next Steve Jobs to facing up to 20 years in prison over federal fraud charges, pictured here on September 8, 2014 in San Francisco, California.
September 2014: Holmes named one of the richest women in America by Forbes
Holmes is named to the magazine’s American billionaire list with the outlet reporting she owns a 50% stake in the startup, pinning her personal wealth at $4.5 billion.
December 2014: Theranos has raised $400 million
Theranos has raised more than $400 million, according to a profile of the company and Holmes by The New Yorker. It counts Oracle’s Larry Ellison among its investors.
July 2015: Theranos gets FDA approval for Herpes test
The FDA clears Theranos to use of its proprietary tiny blood-collection vials to finger stick blood test for herpes simplex 1 virus — its first and only approval for a diagnostic test.
Elizabeth Holmes speaking at a Wall Street Journal technology conference in Laguna Beach, California on October 21, 2015.
October 2015: Theranos is the subject of a Wall Street Journal investigation; Holmes hits back
The Wall Street Journal reports Theranos is using its proprietary technique on only a small number of the 240 tests it performs, and that the vast majority of its tests are done with traditional vials of blood drawn from the arm, not the “few drops” taken by a finger prick. In response, Theranos defends its testing practices, calling the Journal’s reporting “factually and scientifically erroneous.”
A day later, Theranos halts the use of its blood-collection vials for all but the herpes test due to pressures from the FDA. (Later that month, the FDA released two heavily redacted reports citing 14 concerns, including calling the company’s proprietary vial an “uncleared medical device.”)
One week after the Journal report, Holmes is interviewed on-stage at the outlet’s conference in Laguna Beach. “We know what we’re doing and we’re very proud of it,” she says.
Amid the criticism, Theranos reportedly shakes up its board of directors, eliminating Henry Kissinger and George Shultz as directors while moving them to a new board of counselors; the company also forms a separate medical board.
November 2015: Theranos and Safeway partnership falls short
Safeway, which invested $350 million into building out clinics in hundreds of its supermarkets to eventually offer Theranos blood tests, reportedly looks to dissolve its relationship with the company before it ever offered its services.
Elizabeth Holmes with a Theranos blood testing machine at the company’s facility in Newark, California, in December 2015.
January 2016: Federal regulators take issue with Theranos’ California lab; Walgreens pulls back
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sends Theranos a letter saying its California lab has failed to comply with federal standards and that patients are in “immediate jeopardy.” It gives the company 10 days to address the issues.
In response, Walgreens says it will not send any lab tests to Theranos’ California lab for analysis and suspends Theranos services at its Palo Alto Walgreens location.
March 2016: CMS threatens to ban Holmes, Balwani from lab business
CMS threatens to ban Holmes and Balwani from the laboratory business for two years after the company allegedly failed to fix problems at its California lab. Theranos says that’s a “worst case scenario.”
May 2016: Balwani steps down; Theranos voids two years of blood tests
Balwani departs. The company also adds three new board members as part of the restructuring: Fabrizio Bonanni, a former executive vice president of biotech firm Amgen, former CDC director William Foege, and former Wells Fargo CEO Richard Kovacevich.
Theranos voids two years of blood test results from its proprietary testing devices, correcting tens of thousands of blood-test reports, the Journal reports.
June 2016: Holmes net worth revised to $0; Theranos loses its largest retail partner
Forbes revises its estimate of Holmes’ net worth from $4.5 billion to $0. The magazine also lowers its valuation for the company from $9 billion to $800 million.
Walgreens, once Theranos’ largest retail partner, ends its partnership with the company and says it will close all 40 Theranos Wellness Centers.
July 2016: Holmes is banned from running labs for two years
CMS revokes Theranos’ license to operate its California lab and bans Holmes from running a blood-testing lab for two years.
August 2016: The company unveils ‘miniLab’ device
Holmes tries to move past recent setbacks by unveiling a mini testing laboratory, called miniLab, at a conference for the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. In selling the device, versus operating its own clinics, Theranos seeks to effectively side-step CMS sanctions, which don’t prohibit research and development.
October 2016: Theranos investor sues the company; Theranos downsizes
Theranos investor Partner Fund Management sues the company for $96.1 million, the amount it sunk into the company in February 2014, plus damages. It accuses the company of securities fraud. Theranos and Partner Fund Management settled in May, 2017, for an undisclosed amount.
The company also lays off 340 employees as it closes clinical labs and wellness centers as it attempts to pivot and focus on the miniLab.
November 2016: Walgreens sues Theranos
Walgreens sues the blood testing startup for breach of contract. Walgreens sought to recover the $140 million it poured into the company. The lawsuit was settled August, 2017.
January 2017: More layoffs, followed by a failed lab inspection
Theranos downsizes its workforce yet again following the increased scrutiny into its operations, laying off approximately 155 employees or about 41% of staffers.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Theranos failed a second regulatory lab inspection in September, and that the company was closing its last blood testing location as a result.
April 2017: Theranos settles with CMS, and Arizona AG
Theranos settles with the CMS, agreeing to pay $30,000 and to not to own or operate any clinical labs for two years.
Theranos also settles with the Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich over allegations that its advertisements misrepresented the method, accuracy, and reliability of its blood testing and that the company was out of compliance with federal regulations governing clinical lab testing. Theranos agrees to pay $4.65 million back to its Arizona customers as part of a settlement deal.
March 2018: Holmes charged with massive fraud
The SEC charges Holmes and Balwani with a “massive fraud” involving more than $700 million from investors through an “elaborate, years-long fraud in which they exaggerated or made false statements about the company’s technology, business, and financial performance.”
The SEC alleges Holmes and Balwani knew that Theranos’ proprietary analyzer could perform only 12 of the 200 tests it published on its patient testing menu.
Theranos and Holmes agree to resolve the claims against them, and Holmes gives up control of the company and much of her stake in it. Balwani, however, is fighting the charges, with his attorney saying he “accurately represented Theranos to investors to the best of his ability.”
May 2018: “Bad Blood”
Reporter John Carreyrou, who first broke open the story of Theranos for the Wall Street Journal, publishes “Bad Blood,” a definitive look at what happened inside the disgraced company. Director Adam McKay (who directed “The Big Short”) secures the rights to make the film, starring Jennifer Lawrence as Holmes, by the same name.
June 2018: Holmes and Balwani indicted on criminal fraud charges
Holmes and Balwani are indicted on federal wire fraud charges over allegedly engaging in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud investors, as well as a scheme to defraud doctors and patients. They each face up to 20 years in prison. (Both have pleaded not guilty.)
Minutes before the charges were made public, Theranos announced that Holmes has stepped down as CEO. The company’s general counsel, David Taylor, takes over as CEO. Holmes remains chair of the company’s board.
Former Theranos COO Ramesh “Sunny’ Balwani leaves the Robert F. Peckham U.S. Federal Court on June 28, 2019 in San Jose, California.
September 2018: Theranos to dissolve
Taylor emails shareholders that Theranos will dissolve, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. Taylor said more than 80 potential buyers were not interested in a sale. “We are now out of time,” Taylor wrote.
March 2019: Theranos gets the documentary treatment
Alex Gibney, the prolific documentary filmmaker behind “Dirty Money,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room,” and “The Armstrong Lie,” debuts “The Inventor” on HBO, following the rise and fall of Theranos.
Elizabeth Holmes arrives for motion hearing on November 4, 2019, at the U.S. District Court House inside Robert F. Peckham Federal Building in San Jose, California.
May 2020: An additional criminal wire fraud charge is tacked on
Holmes now faces a dozen counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
September 2020: Holmes’ possible defense strategy comes to light
A new court document reveals Holmes may seek a “mental disease” defense in her criminal fraud trial. Later, in August 2021, unsealed court documents reveal Holmes is likely to claim she was the victim of a decade-long abusive relationship with Balwani. The allegations led to the severing of their trials. His trial is slated to begin in 2022.
December 2020: Holmes’ criminal trial delayed til 2021
Initially set to begin in July 2020, Holmes’ criminal trial is further delayed til July 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
March 2021: Holmes’ pregnancy further delays trial
News surfaces that Holmes’ is expecting her first child, once more further delaying her criminal trial. Holmes’ counsel advised the US government that Holmes is due in July 2021, a court document revealed. She gave birth in July.
Holmes collects her belongings after going through security at the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building with her defense team on August 31, in San Jose, California.
August 2021: Holmes’ criminal trial begins with jury selection
More than 80 potential jurors are brought into a San Jose courtroom for questioning over the course of two days to determine if they are fit to serve as impartial, fair jurors for the criminal trial of Holmes. A jury of seven men and five women is selected, with five alternatives.
***
Meet the 50 youngest billionaires in America
Youngest billionaires in America
Updated
While the wealth gap between rich and poor was growing before the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic recession it caused, the last year has been a boon for the world’s wealthy. Most billionaires added more billions to their personal fortunes, potentially increasing the equality gap even more.
While the world’s working poor dream of economic stability, the 50 people on this list of the youngest billionaires have it in spades. The oldest billionaire comes in at 47, while the youngest, who was born in 1995, is only 26. Stacker compiled net worth data from Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List as of March 17, 2021. The list is in real-time, and any ties in age were broken by net worth.
Included are those who received their billions as heirs to family fortunes, as well as those who are self-made—though even many of the world’s “self-made” wealthy start with many advantages in life, including start-up funds from family. Fortunes come from tech companies including WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Facebook, though technology isn’t the only way to strike it rich. Others have made their money through hedge funds, retail, and even by creating a burger that relies upon the simplest recipe and ingredients.
While many came from backgrounds that allowed opportunities only afforded to those with money, others came from more humble beginnings. Some immigrated from other countries seeking opportunity, while others were born to single parents who struggled to provide for them. While several billionaires on the list attended and graduated from top-notch colleges, including the Ivies, others never went to college or dropped out, sometimes to pursue the ideas that made them rich.
Readers will also notice that women are glaringly few in numbers on this list, pointing to the continuing discrimination and sexism they face in the boardrooms where billionaires are often minted, and the broader inequality in access to capital frequently necessary to turn a good idea into big money.
Many of the billionaires on the list are well known, others are less obvious. Curious to see if you can guess who the youngest billionaire is? It may be a snap to figure it out, or you may really have to think about it. Continue reading to find out who made the exclusive and enviable list.
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#50. Ben Chestnut
Updated
– Age: 47
– Net worth: $3.0 billion (#988 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: email marketing
Georgia born and bred CEO and co-founder of email marketing giant, Mailchimp, Ben Chestnut learned about business from his mom. The company that started off as a side gig has grown into a multi-billion dollar business without the help of outside investors, and both Chestnut and his partner Dan Kurzius hold 50% ownership.
#49. John Arnold
Updated
– Age: 47
– Net worth: $3.3 billion (#927 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: hedge funds
Once a successful energy trader, John Arnold reportedly earned Enron $750 million in the year the company went bankrupt. Arnold went on to build hedge fund company Centaurus Advisors and shocked the industry when he retired from hedge fund management at 38. He currently runs Arnold Ventures LLC with his wife, Laura.
#48. Niraj Shah
Updated
– Age: 47
– Net worth: $3.9 billion (#752 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: online retail
CEO and co-founder of Wayfair Niraj Shah is the son of Indian immigrants and was born in Massachusetts. He met his business partner Steve Conine when the two studied together at Cornell University. Shah currently sits on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
#47. Nicholas Woodman
Updated
– Age: 46
– Net worth: $1.1 billion (#2,309 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: GoPro
Nicholas Woodman founded GoPro in 2002 with the help of his mom’s drill and sewing machine, which he used to make a prototype. The GoPro CEO peddled the wearable video camera on QVC in its early days. GoPro went public on June 26, 2014, and made his mother, father, and two sisters millionaires.
#46. Chris Sacca
Updated
– Age: 46
– Net worth: $1.2 billion (#2,197 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: venture capital investing
Venture capitalist Chris Sacca acquired his fortune by making smart and early investments in companies like Twitter, Instagram, and Uber through his company Lowercase Capital. Sacca has also worked at Google and as an attorney at Fenwick & West. Known for his appearance on the television show “Shark Tank” and wearing cowboy shirts, Sacca attended Georgetown University.
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#45. Max Levchin
Updated
– Age: 46
– Net worth: $2.0 billion (#1,512 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: fintech
Once a co-founder of PayPal, Max Levchin owns 27.5 million shares in online lender Affirm, as the company’s founder and CEO. Levchin is also considered a member of the PayPal Mafia, a group of 23 entrepreneurs that were essential in the early days of PayPal, and who have gone on to have a major impact in Silicon Valley.
#44. Jeffrey Talpins
Updated
– Age: 46
– Net worth: $2.1 billion (#1,448 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: hedge fund
Jeffrey Talpins is the founder and chief investment officer of Element Capital Management, a hedge fund company focusing on macro trading. The company often boasts annualized returns topping 20%. Talpin attended Yale University and worked as a trader at both Citigroup and Goldman Sachs prior to founding Element Capital.
#43. Chase Coleman III
Updated
– Age: 46
– Net worth: $10.3 billion (#215 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: investments
While Chase Coleman III started out as a hedge fund investor, it was his company, Tiger Global Management, that made him a billionaire. The son of an attorney and an interior designer, Coleman grew up in Long Island and attended an elite boarding school. Coleman was entrusted with $25 million by investment legend Julian Robertson who ran Tiger Management.
#42. Travis Kalanick
Updated
– Age: 45
– Net worth: $2.8 billion (#1,132 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Uber
As a teen growing up in Northridge, California, Travis Kalanick went door to door selling Cutco knives and started his first company. Before co-founding Uber in 2009, Kalanick co-founded tech startups Scour and RedSwoosh, which he sold for $23 million. In January 2018, he became a billionaire, but in December 2019, he stepped down from Uber’s board of directors and severed all ties with the company.
#41. Behdad Eghbali
Updated
– Age: 45
– Net worth: $2.9 billion (#1,049 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: private equity
Iranian-born Behdad Eghbali is the co-founder and managing partner at Clearlake Capital. The private equity firm oversees $10 billion and has a history of scoring stellar returns. In January 2020, Eghbali purchased a home in Brentwood, California for $21 million only months after Forbes declared him a billionaire.
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#40. Jan Koum
Updated
– Age: 45
– Net worth: $10.0 billion (#226 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: WhatsApp
Born in Ukraine, Jan Koum immigrated to the United States with his mother in search of a better life at age 16. The co-founder and former CEO of WhatsApp, became a billionaire when Facebook purchased the mobile messaging app in 2014 for $19 billion. When Koum left Yahoo in 2007, he applied to Facebook and Twitter, both of whom turned him down, which led to him starting WhatsApp.
#39. Jack Dorsey
Updated
– Age: 45
– Net worth: $13.6 billion (#157 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Twitter, Square
Jack Dorsey co-founded Square and Twitter, though it is the latter that made him a billionaire. Within hours of Twitter going public in November 2013, Dorsey was a billionaire. Though Dorsey attended both Missouri University of Science and Technology and NYU, he never finished college.
#38. Kanye West
Updated
– Age: 44
– Net worth: $1.3 billion (#2,090 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: music, sneakers
Forbes finally declared Kanye West an official billionaire in April 2020. The majority of the rapper and entrepreneur’s fortune comes from his streetwear brand, Yeezy. Though West owns 100% of the brand, he has deals with both Adidas and Gap.
#37. Jeff Lawson
Updated
– Age: 44
– Net worth: $2.4 billion (#1,281 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: software
Jeff Lawson is the co-founder and CEO of the cloud communications platform Twilio. While a student at the University of Michigan, Lawson launched his first internet startup. Though Lawson didn’t make any money from it, he found it to be a valuable learning experience.
#36. Alejandro Santo Domingo
Updated
– Age: 44
– Net worth: $2.9 billion (#1,032 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: beer
While Alejandro Santo Domingo works at New York investment advisory firm Quadrant Capital Advisors as a senior managing director, his fortune comes from his family. His father, Julio Mario Santo Domingo, passed down the 15% stake he had in SABMiller, a business division of Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, to his sons and grandchildren upon his death in 2011. Santo Domingo holds a 1.75% stake in the family beer fortune.
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#35. Jeff Green
Updated
– Age: 44
– Net worth: $4.2 billion (#676 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: online advertising
Chairman and CEO of The Trade Desk, Jeff Green attended USC where he studied marketing communications. Prior to founding The Trade Desk, Green founded AdECN in 2004. The company, an online advertising exchange, was acquired by Microsoft in 2007.
#34. Ryan Smith
Updated
– Age: 43
– Net worth: $1.5 billion (#1,905 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: cloud computing
Acquired by SAP, a German software company, for $8 billion in cash just days before the scheduled IPO, Qualtrics made its co-founder and CEO, Ryan Smith, a billionaire. The sale of the cloud-computing company also made fellow co-founders, Jared Smith and Scott Smith, Ryan Smith’s brother, and father, respectively, millionaires as well.
#33. Andres Santo Domingo
Updated
– Age: 43
– Net worth: $1.8 billion (#1,688 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: beer
Brother to Alejandro Santo Domingo and son to Julio Mario Santo Domingo, the majority of Andres fortune is in Anheuser-Busch InBev, which acquired SABMiller in 2016 for $100 billion. Santo Domingo was educated at Brown University, and while his family fortune comes from the beer industry, he has a passion for music. In 2002, he co-founded record label Kemado Records.
#32. Bom Kim
Updated
– Age: 43
– Net worth: $7.7 billion (#324 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: online retailing
While Bom Kim was born in South Korea, he was raised in America and attended Harvard Business school, though he dropped out after only six months. Kim’s company Coupang has been referred to as the South Korean version of Amazon, and it has given the American company a run for its money. The company raised $4.6 billion and was valued at $109 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, the biggest IPO to date in 2021.
#31. Robert Pera
Updated
– Age: 43
– Net worth: $19.3 billion (#91 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: wireless networking gear
Robert Pera began working at Apple in 2003, and by 2005 was working full-time at Ubiquiti Networks, a wireless equipment maker that he founded. In 2012, he also became one of the youngest controlling owners in the NBA after purchasing the Memphis Grizzlies.
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#30. John Bicket
Updated
– Age: 41
– Net worth: $1.1 billion (#2,265 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: sensor systems
Currently the co-founder and chief technology officer of Samsara, John Bicket was the co-founder of Meraki. The company came out of research Bicket did while a Ph.D. student at MIT. Cisco acquired Meraki for $1.2 billion in cash, though it is actually Samsara that made Bricket a billionaire.
#29. Orion Hindawi
Updated
– Age: 41
– Net worth: $2.0 billion (#1,509 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: software
Orion Hindawi followed in his father’s footsteps by attending the University of California, Berkeley, though he dropped out. He and his father, David, co-founded Tanium, a cybersecurity firm, in 2007. After a $150 million financing round in October 2020, the company’s valuation was more than $9 billion.
#28. Joe Gebbia
Updated
– Age: 40
– Net worth: $13.6 billion (#156 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Airbnb
Joe Gebbia co-founded Airbnb in 2008 with business partners Nathan Blecharczyk and Brian Chesky. Airbnb’s humble beginning was in Gebbia’s San Francisco apartment. The company now offers more than 5.6 million accommodations across more than 220 countries and regions.
#27. Brian Chesky
Updated
– Age: 40
– Net worth: $15.0 billion (#134 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Airbnb
Co-founder and CEO of lodging rental giant Airbnb Brian Chesky attended Rhode Island School of Design. In December 2020, the company’s valuation jumped past $100 billion in its U.S. initial public offering.
#26. Sanjit Biswas
Updated
– Age: 39
– Net worth: $1.1 billion (#2,265 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: sensor systems
Sanjit Biswas holds degrees from Stanford and MIT and is the co-founder of Meraki and Samsara, though it is the latter that made him a billionaire. Biswas is the CEO of San Francisco-based Samsara.
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#25. Trevor Milton
Updated
– Age: 39
– Net worth: $1.5 billion (#1,898 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: electric vehicles
Founder and executive chairman of Nikola Motor Company Trevor Milton dropped out of college after just one semester. Not only did Milton drop out of college, but he also dropped out of high school, though he went on to get his GED. His company produces electric- and hydrogen-powered, zero-emission semi trucks and made Milton a multibillionaire after the June 2020 IPO.
#24. Lynsi Snyder
Updated
– Age: 39
– Net worth: $3.6 billion (#827 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: In-N-Out Burger
Lynsi Snyder’s grandparents founded the iconic West Coast burger joint In-N-Out Burger in 1948. Snyder, the company’s president, became a billionaire on her 35th birthday and was the youngest woman on The Forbes 400 in 2018. The nostalgic draw of the chain comes in part because the recipe for its staple items, burgers and fries, remains almost the same as it did more than 70 years ago.
#23. Ben Silbermann
Updated
– Age: 39
– Net worth: $4.1 billion (#699 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Pinterest
Co-founder and CEO of Pinterest, Ben Silbermann grew up in Iowa and attended Yale. Silbermann worked at Google and tried out several product ideas, including iPhone apps, before hitting it big with the money-making Pinterest.
#22. Scott Duncan
Updated
– Age: 39
– Net worth: $6.0 billion (#453 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: pipelines
Scott Duncan is the heir to his family fortune. His father, Dan Duncan, founded the pipeline firm Enterprise Products Partners, and left Scott and his three siblings a stake in the company when he died in 2010. The company went public in 1998, and from the time of the IPO until Dec. 31, 2020, the company’s asset base increased from $715 million to more than $64 billion.
#21. Ernest Garcia III
Updated
– Age: 39
– Net worth: $7.8 billion (#315 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: used cars
Ernest Garcia III started his ecommerce platform, Carvana, as a subsidiary of DriveTime Automotive, one of the largest used car dealerships in the United States, run by his father, Ernest Garcia II. Garcia’s father is still the company’s largest shareholder, which also makes him a multibillionaire.
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#20. Ryan Graves
Updated
– Age: 38
– Net worth: $1.3 billion (#2,133 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Uber
In 2010, Ryan Graves was the first employee hired by Uber, the ride service that took the world by storm, and what a ride it has been. While he resigned from the company in 2017, after serving in a variety of positions, Graves still remains an Uber board member, and owns 2% of its shares.
#19. Kevin Systrom
Updated
– Age: 38
– Net worth: $2.0 billion (#1,548 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Instagram
Facebook purchased Instagram, the picture-sharing social media app Kevin Systrom co-founded in 2012, for a cool billion in cash and stock. Systrom’s time at Stanford University may have inspired the idea for Instagram—he built a site for photo sharing for his fraternity brothers.
#18. Drew Houston
Updated
– Age: 38
– Net worth: $2.1 billion (#1,493 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: cloud storage service
Not only is Drew Houston the co-founder and CEO of online backup and storage service Dropbox, but he is also the company’s largest shareholder, with more than 20% ownership. In February 2020, Houston was appointed to social media giant Facebook’s board of directors.
#17. Jared Isaacman
Updated
– Age: 38
– Net worth: $2.6 billion (#1,200 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: payment processing
As founder and CEO of Shift4 Payments, Jared Isaacman owns 38% of the company’s shares. The payment processing firm was not Isaacman’s first venture, though. Draken International, a defense firm he founded in 2011, earned him a nine-figure sum when he sold a majority stake in the company in 2019 to Blackstone, a Wall Street firm.
#16. RJ Scaringe
Updated
– Age: 38
– Net worth: $3.4 billion (#891 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: electric vehicles
With a doctorate in mechanical engineering from MIT, RJ Scaringe founded electric car company Rivian Automotive in 2009. Scaringe’s dream of a zero-carbon future made him a billionaire, though the company’s first vehicle won’t be available until the summer of 2021.
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#15. Brian Armstrong
Updated
– Age: 38
– Net worth: $6.5 billion (#401 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: cryptocurrency
Brian Armstrong’s cryptocurrency business Coinbase was valued at an estimated $68 billion in March 2021, prior to the expectation of a direct listing on the NASDAQ. Achieving billionaire status led Armstrong to philanthropy. In December 2018, he even signed the Giving Pledge, vowing to donate much of his fortune to philanthropic causes.
#14. Nathan Blecharczyk
Updated
– Age: 38
– Net worth: $13.6 billion (#155 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Airbnb
Nathan Blecharczyk’s sizable fortune is a direct result of co-founding the lodging site Airbnb. Also the company’s chief strategy officer and first engineer, Blecharczyk serves as chairman of Airbnb China. In October 2019, Blecharczyk gifted his alma mater, Boston Latin Academy, $1 million, with a promise to match any other donations to the school of up to $1 million.
#13. Baiju Bhatt
Updated
– Age: 37
– Net worth: $1.0 billion (#2,329 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: stock trading app
An Indian-American billionaire, Baiju Bhatt is the co-founder of Robinhood, a commission-free stock trading and investing app that filed for an initial public offering on March 23, 2021. He attended Stanford University, which is where he met fellow Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev, who was his roommate at the prestigious college.
#12. Tony Xu
Updated
– Age: 37
– Net worth: $2.4 billion (#1,284 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: food delivery service
In 2013, Tony Xu co-founded DoorDash with Evan Moore, Andy Fang, and Stanley Tang, and in December 2020, the company’s IPO made Xu a billionaire. The Stanford graduate is the son of Chinese immigrants. Xu was just 5 years old when his parents immigrated from Nanjing to the U.S. in 1989.
#11. Dustin Moskovitz
Updated
– Age: 37
– Net worth: $18.8 billion (#98 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Facebook
In 2004, Dustin Moskovitz and Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook from their dorm room at Harvard. Leaving Facebook in 2008, Moskovitz co-founded the workflow software company Asana, though most of his wealth comes from Facebook. He still holds an estimated 2% stake in the company.
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#10. Mark Zuckerberg
Updated
– Age: 37
– Net worth: $102.2 billion (#5 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Facebook
Mark Zuckerberg is the most well-known and wealthiest of the men who co-founded Facebook. Ranking #7 on Forbes 2020 Ten Richest People in the World, Zuckerberg was a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard when he launched the social media site that would change the world and eventually make him a billionaire at 23.
#9. Arash Ferdowsi
Updated
– Age: 36
– Net worth: $1.0 billion (#2,340 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: online file storage
Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi launched the file sharing and storage service as a student at MIT. He owns close to a 10% stake in the company. Ferdowsi wrote about being the son of immigrant parents and acknowledged how hard his parents worked and how supportive they were of his pursuits.
#8. Lukas Walton
Updated
– Age: 35
– Net worth: $16.0 billion (#120 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Walmart
Lukas Walton is a member of one of the wealthiest families in the United States. His grandfather, Sam Walton, founded mega superstore Walmart. Walton acquired his fortune under tragic circumstances when his father, John Walton, died in a 2005 plane crash.
#7. Vlad Tenev
Updated
– Age: 34
– Net worth: $1.0 billion (#2,329 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: stock trading
Co-founder of Robinhood, the commission-free stock trading app, Vlad Tenev was born in Bulgaria and raised in Washington, D.C. His rise to billionaire has not been without its problems, including many wondering whether Robinhood has gamified trading, making it dangerous.
#6. Bobby Murphy
Updated
– Age: 33
– Net worth: $12.7 billion (#172 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Snapchat
Co-founder and chief technology officer of Snap Inc., Bobby Murphy came up with the idea for the social media app Snapchat with his fraternity brothers Evan Spiegel and Reggie Brown when the trio attended Stanford University. While Murphy’s billions come from Snapchat, he has invested millions in Southern California real estate.
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#5. Whitney Wolfe Herd
Updated
– Age: 32
– Net worth: $1.5 billion (#1,925 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: dating app
Whitney Wolfe Herd is the founder and CEO of social and dating app Bumble. The app is different from other dating apps because it is up to women to make the first move. Wolfe Herd left Tinder and launched Bumble in 2014.
#4. Evan Spiegel
Updated
– Age: 31
– Net worth: $11.8 billion (#182 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: Snapchat
The youngest billionaire on the list and the flashier co-founder of Snapchat, Evan Spiegel married supermodel Miranda Kerr in 2017. Spiegel dropped out of Stanford to start Snapchat, though he finally graduated from the illustrious university in 2018 with a degree in product design. Both he and fellow Snapchat co-founder Bobby Murphy own an estimated 18% of the company, where he serves as the CEO.
#2. Andy Fang (tie)
Updated
– Age: 29
– Net worth: $1.7 billion (#1,723 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: food delivery app
Not only is Andy Fang a co-founder of DoorDash, but he is also the company’s head of consumer engineering. His 4% stake in the food delivery app made him a billionaire in December 2020.
#2. Stanley Tang (tie)
Updated
– Age: 29
– Net worth: $1.7 billion (#1,732 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: food delivery app
The head of labs at DoorDash, Stanley Tang is also one of the four co-founders. Within days of going public in December 2020, DoorDash shares soared to $189, making Tang a billionaire, along with fellow co-founders Tony Xu and Andy Fang. Evan Moore, the fourth co-founder, only remained with DoorDash for a short period of time.
#1. Austin Russell
Updated
– Age: 26
– Net worth: $2.8 billion (#1,083 Forbes rank)
– Source of wealth: sensors
The youngest billionaire on the list dropped out of Stanford after receiving a $100,000 Thiel Fellowship. Austin Russell also came up with the idea for his company Luminar while studying at the prestigious university when he was just 17 years old. Russell’s automotive sensor company, Luminar Technologies, made him a billionaire at the ripe old age of 25.
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