Meet The World's Self-Made Billionaires

Forbes

01-04-2025

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Happy Billionaires Day! It's a busy one here at Forbes, as we just released our annual list of the world's billionaires, highlighting the richest––and arguably most powerful––people and families across the globe.
In total, Forbes tracked and documented the wealth of more than 3,000 people worth a collective $16.1 trillion. The average fortune on the list now stands at $5.3 billion, a $200 million increase from 2024.
While many of the world's billionaires inherited their wealth, nearly 70% of the newest names on this year's list are self-made, meaning they founded or cofounded the company that made them their billions. The newcomers include 73-year-old Sulaiman Al Habib, founder and chairman of Saudi Arabia hospital group HMG, as well as Scale AI cofounder and CEO Alexandr Wang, the list's youngest self-made billionaire at just 28 years old.
Wang is one of just 21 individuals this year to reach billionaire status under the age of 30. Of those, only Wang and 29-year-old Ed Craven are self-made, with Craven being the cofounder of Stake.com, thought to be the world's biggest crypto-backed online casino.
So what's the secret to their riches? For newcomer billionaire Steve Ells, it was Chipotle's compensation plan. Though Ells sold most of his stock throughout his time as CEO and then chairman of the board at the fast-casual chain, the company's compensation plan continued to award him Chipotle stock as it kept rising.
And while it was the ultimate sale of fried chicken chain Zaxby that netted its cofounders their billions, it's the hard work they put into growing the business that allowed it to grow. Cofounder Tony Townley kept his day job running a mortgaging and loan business while running the first Zaxby location, sometimes mixing sometimes until 5 a.m.
It goes to show that while entrepreneurship can be a struggle, it can certainly pay off.
You can read more about the world's richest here.
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Your favorite finance friends saw their bonuses rise more than 30% last year. Where did the extra cash come from?
After a profitable year for Wall Street in 2024, its bankers are cashing-in on generous bonuses. The New York State Comptroller said last week that bankers' bonuses rose 31.5% from the previous year, contributing to a total estimated bonus pool of $47.5 billion.
The increase in performance incentives is largely due to one of the best years in history for the stock market and dealmaking. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each had record years in 2024, and Wall Street's profits rose 90%.
'Most of the time bonuses are based off of two things: What is your personal performance and what is the company's performance,' says Nich Tremper, economist at payroll provider Gusto. 'It's discretionary compensation based on those two things.'
Add a securities employment increase––coming in at 201,500 employees, the highest annual level in at least 30 years, according to New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli––and you've got more employees earning six-figure salaries that qualified for the bonuses. Indeed, average salaries for analysts range from $160,000 to $210,000 per year after bonuses. That number can rise up to $475,000 for associates.
But Wall Street wasn't the only place to see bonuses increase, albeit at a much lower rate. Average end-of-year bonuses for 2024 were up 2% compared to 2023 payouts for small businesses, according to a January report from Gusto, though the total share of workers who received bonuses decreased.
Apart from Wall Street, those in the communications, technology and professional services industries saw the greatest bonus growth.
Retail, for example, saw an 8% increase in bonuses from 2023 to 2024. But one major retailer held back from them altogether, citing fiscal year performance results. Salaried employees at Target who were eligible for bonuses will only receive 87% of their potential bonus for fiscal year 2024, HR Dive reported, down from the 100% they received the previous year.
The state of the economy has a large part to play in how much employers are distributing to their workers. 'A bonus is backwards-looking,' says Tremper. 'But it's also forwards-looking. It's a business owner deciding that they don't need to keep that cash in the bank account and can actually invest that into their employees.'
News from the world of work
As the Ivy Leagues continue to amass criticism from wealthy alumni, parents of students and even the federal government, Forbes released its second iteration of the New Ivies list. Employers are increasingly looking at graduates from these 20 public and private universities, including newcomers Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Pittsburgh and the United States Military Academy at West Point, Emma Whitford reports.
Top vaccine official Peter Marks quit his position at the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday, criticizing Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy's views on vaccines and his 'misinformation and lies.' He's not the first—and certainly not the last—federal employee to clash with his new boss.
Just days later, cuts at HHS reportedly began. Kennedy is expected to cut about a quarter of the department's workforce, about 10,000 employees, across regional offices, the CDC, FDA, NIH, and the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare.
Job applications from federal workers are surging, Indeed reports. USDA workers and those working in DEI roles are likely hitting the job market the most, as searches for horticulture and employee relations roles increased by more than 10 times compared to this time last year. While most federal employees looking for work are still in the Washington, D.C. and Virginia area, Texas, California and Georgia are not far behind.
Are you worried about a potential recession and how it could impact your job? Forbes' Derek Saul has been tracking economists' recession warnings as 'Liberation Day' tariffs loom. Here's why it's not time to worry yet.
Gen X creatives are in a career meltdown, the New York Times reports. Right when they should be at the peak of their career, advertising and media workers in their late 40s and 50s are trying to play catch-up in an industry now dominated by cheap, fast social media content, influencers and generative AI.
How DOGE Cuts Are Impacting U.S. Businesses
The Federal Communications Commission said it will investigate which major entertainment studio over its DEI practices among both its employees and its content?
A. Universal Studios
B. Disney
C. Warner Bros.
D. Netflix
Check if you got it right here.