Bitcoin Nouveau Riche: Bitmain CEO Jihan Wu Appears on Forbes’ 2019 List of World’s Youngest Billionaires
Jihan Wu, the CEO of Chinese mining giant Bitmain, has made the cut on Forbes’ list of the richest people under 40. Wu, 33, was among the newcomers along with Juul Labs CEO James Monsees, 39, who made vaping cool in 2018.
The youngest crypto billionaires
Despite the fact that Bitmain’s IPO plans have been called into question due to numerous scandals and layoffs, the company’s CEO remains one of the richest individuals in the crypto industry with a net worth of $1.5 bln. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, 36, is also among the wealthiest young billionaires in the world with his riches sitting at $1.3 bln.
The wealthiest people in crypto
Micree Zhan, another Bitcoin CEO, boasts an almost two times bigger fortune ($2.7 bln), but he didn’t make it to the list since he had already turned 40. Ripple’s Chris Larsen, who became the first person from the crypto industry to appear on Forbes 400 in 2018, saw his net worth declining from $2.1 bln to $1.9 bln.
Zuck is in the lead
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, 34, remains the richest billionaire under 40 with a whopping lead (Forbes pegged his fortune at $62.3 bln). Meanwhile, Kylie Jenner, a reality start turned a cosmetics mogul, was crowned as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.