A new study analyzes income history to rank the billionaires who became rich the fastest. Changpeng Zhao, co-founder of Binance, became rich the fastest, earning his first billion USD in just 7 months after the company’s launch. Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos also make the list, each taking 4 years to acquire their first billion USD. The study considers the years elapsed from the creation of the company until the first billion dollars are earned. The data on net worth and company revenues come from Forbes billionaire lists.
7 months for Changpeng Zhao
Changpeng Zhao is the fastest billionaire, earning his first billion in just 7 months after co-founding Binance. His current net worth is 33 billion USD. Like many billionaires on this list, Changpeng Zhao holds a degree in computer science from McGill University in Montreal.
12 months for Jay Walker
Jay Walker ranks second among the fastest billionaires, achieving his first billion in just one year. Founder of Priceline.com, Jay Walker earned his first billion in 2000, but he is no longer on the Forbes list, making him the only one in the ranking not currently listed.
18 months for Gary Winnick
Gary Winnick ranks third, taking 18 months to become a billionaire. In 1997, Winnick founded Global Crossing, and the company’s latest revenue was 160 million USD. This is the lowest revenue of any company that made its founder a billionaire on this list. Winnick was also 51 years old when he became a billionaire, the oldest person on this list.
30 months for Eric Lefkofsky
Eric Lefkofsky ranks fourth, becoming a billionaire in two and a half years at the age of 42. He achieved this through Groupon, and since 2011, his fortune has risen to 3.8 billion USD. Unlike most billionaires on this list, Lefkofsky has a legal background and holds a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
36 months for Evan Spiegel
Evan Spiegel is fifth in the ranking of the fastest billionaires. Creator of Snapchat, Spiegel earned his first billion in just three years. Over the following decade, he doubled his fortune to 2.8 billion USD. Spiegel is also one of the youngest billionaires on the list, having earned his fortune at just 24 years old.
36 months for Cheng Wei
Cheng Wei, 32 years old, the founder of Didi Chuxing, closely follows in sixth place, also taking three years to earn his first billion. The company generated over 19 billion USD in revenue last year, but Cheng Wei’s net worth is much lower at 1.2 billion USD in 2024.
36 months for Pierre Omidyar
Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay, also took 3 years to become a billionaire, earning him the seventh place on the list. Another billionaire with a computer science degree, Omidyar currently has a net worth of 6.4 billion USD, and eBay’s latest revenues are 9.7 billion USD.
48 months for Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos ranks eighth, taking 4 years to become a billionaire. The founder of Amazon holds degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. Bezos was 35 years old when he earned his first billion in 1999, and his net worth now exceeds 200 billion USD.
48 months for Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg is ninth, also taking 4 years to build his fortune, just like Bezos. Zuckerberg is another young billionaire, having earned his first billion through Facebook at the age of 24. Today, his net worth is 179 billion USD, 20 billion more than Jeff Bezos.
48 months for Colin Huang
Colin Huang closes the ranking of the fastest billionaires, earning his first billion in 4 years. The founder of Pinduoduo Inc. made his debut on the billionaire list in 2019 and has since increased his net worth to 40.7 billion USD.
