CEOs making their fortunes before 30!
CEOs of big companies are set to earn big bucks, but what about those that managed to make their fortune before even turning 30? This infographic will be enough to inspire any ambitious and young entrepreneurs ready to follow their vision, from following the road to success from the likes of tech futurists and fashion moguls including David Karp, the founder of Tumblr, and Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snapchat.
Does success have an age limit? For young entrepreneurs looking to turn innovative ideas into a success, it’s never too early to start changing the world. In the latest infographic from Essay.Expert, we see eight start-up CEOs who did just that – amassing fortunes before they turned 30.
Long before PayPal, Tesla Motors or SpaceX, Elon Musk had already struck gold with his early start-up company Zip-2. In 1995, Musk dropped out of graduate school after just two days to found the company – an internet software venture – with his brother, Kimbal Musk.
Working long hours and fighting tooth and nail to succeed, the scrappy startup developed and marketed an internet “city guide” for the newspaper publishing industry. Quickly garnering attention from major publications like The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune, Zip2 was snapped up by Compaq for the tidy sum of $307m in cash and $34m in stock options.
At the age of 28, Musk had become a multi-millionaire. Today, his net worth sits at $11.9bn.
The youngest of the CEOs featured – Nick D’Aloisio – may not be as much of a household name, but he’s fast on his way to becoming the next big name among the Silicon Valley elite. At the tender age of 16, D’Aloisio’s content condenser TrimIt – a piece of proprietary software developed on his bedroom computer – wowed Hong Kong-based billionaire Li Ka-Shing, who provided the young tech mogul with $300,000 in venture capital funding.
This also makes D’Aloisio the youngest person in the world to get venture capital funding.
Not one to rest on his laurels, D’Aloisio set to work on improving his software with the lessons learned from the initial round of feedback. Rebranding his product as Summly, he re-launched the software in December 2011 – attracting 200,000 downloads of the initial version. In November 2012, Summly attracted another round of venture capital funding – to the tune of $1m – from celebrities like Yoko Ono, Ashton Kutcher, Stephen Fry and his original patron, Li Ka-Shing.
In March 2013, Yahoo bought Summly from the young CEO for a reported $30m, making D’Aloisio the new Product Manager for Yahoo News Digest – a direct evolution of Summly – and an overnight millionaire. Unfazed by success, D’Aloisio began studying at Oxford University in 2014, while fulfilling his obligations as Product Manager for Yahoo News Digest around his studies.
At 20 years old, he has a net worth of £23m, which should come in handy when it comes to repaying those student loans.
The infographic also shows that young female CEOs are starting to break into the wealth elite – Michelle Phan and Sophia Amoruso are two young entrepreneurs fighting to bridge the gender gap through their savvy and determination. The latter is certainly an oddity among these young CEOs.
Beginning her rise to the top as a high school drop-out turned anarchist shoplifter, before going from a small-time eBay seller to CEO of a company with 110 employees, Amoruso has been a radical from day one. Taking her rebellious energy and channeling it towards her business, she’s turned Nasty Gal from an unknown brand to a household name.
For more inspiring tales of the young start-up entrepreneurs who struck gold be sure to read the rest of the infographic. Click on the infographic to view a larger image.
Infographic courtesy of EssayExpert.com
