Richest Millennials (And What They Did To Get Rich)

Success. It’s hard to attain but everyone wants it. Now is the prime time for millennial to make their marks on the world. A global economy and strength of the internet means that the opportunity to make great wealth is wide open and ready for the taking, if you have the right idea.

Prior to the emergence of commerce online, starting your own business was fairly hard. It required you to take out loans from a bank, or source investors to begin the initial stages of your startup (which is still required today, for the most part, but online tools have made it a faster process). Funding usually meant knowing someone who had a lot of money, or investing much of your own personal assets to begin a project. Because of the global economy, the liquidity of currency online, and the ability to start a business based off a good idea with little to no financial risk, our generation is quickly becoming the most successful generation in history.

With great success comes great wealth, and the innovators of our generation are also gifted with that. Here are some of the richest millennials in the world, and what they did to get rich.

Mark Zuckerberg, 31
Position: CEO and Founder of Facebook
Net Worth: $41.6 Billion

It should come as no surprise to anyone that Mark Zuckerberg would be first on this list. Zuckerberg took an existing idea in social media, and expanded and improved it to a targeted demographic of university bound students. This initial exclusion actually created the community that allowed Facebook to explode all over the United States, and eventually the world. By integrating the demands of the community into useable applications, and then developing it as a proven advertising platform, Zuckerberg was able able to amass great wealth. Eventually he took his company public in 2012, solidifying the legacy of the online social media platform and Zuckerberg himself.

All the credit can’t be lent to Zuckerberg solely, however. Developing the platform in college, Zuckerberg utilized a team of other students to effectively drive and improve his product over time. People like Dustin Moskovitz who is also a billionaire, aided Zuckerberg in creating a product that was wildly popular.

Elizabeth Holmes, 31
Founder of blood-testing company Theranos
Net worth: $4.5 billion

Elizabeth Holmes is a self-made billionaire who started selling C++ compilers at the age of 9. Always an innovator, Holmes started her company Theranos after she quit college to pursue the dream of providing smaller and safer blood receptacles to test disease. Holmes has nearly 100 patents globally, and has proven that making money and helping society are not mutually exclusive. With intelligence and the right idea, Holmes was able to take funds that were allocated to college, and instead use it to start her own business.

Nathan Blecharczyk, 32
Co-founder and CTO of Airbnb
Net Worth: $3 billion

Much like Zuckerberg, Nathan Blecharczyk started his idea online with Airbnb. A place to locate lower-cost bed and breakfasts, Nathan took a need and transformed it into a tool with money-making potential for anyone who rented an apartment. The savings associated with it also allows the consumer to have choices when looking for somewhere to stay on vacation. Blecharczyk started the business when he was only 19 years old with roommates and has now expanded to over 20 countries with over 2 million listings and an valuation of $25 billion dollars.

Innovation and making things easier to use or more effective is something that billionaire millennials have in common. In addition, the richest millennials in the world drew on their resources and those around them to complete a project. With enough drive, passion, and the right idea, anything is possible. There is no predicted formula to wealth or success, but there are ways to improve your chances to get there.

By drawing on other intelligent minds, pooling resources, and having a new idea, millennials have the capability to not only amass wealth, but improve our world. Execution is just as important as the idea itself, and for that it requires sacrifice and follow-through, something that these billionaires all have in common.