Members of Forbes 30 under 30 list have been arrested for frauds collectively worth '$18.5 billion'
Ben Thompson
Featured Image Credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images / MEGA/GC Images
Making it onto Forbes' 30 under 30 list is usually a cause for celebration when you're a young up-and-comer.
But for many who have landed a spot on the coveted list, a downfall has followed not long after.
Charlie Javice was one of the high-flyers who had a spectacular fall from grace.
In 2019, the tech CEO secured a place on Forbes' list thanks to her start-up Frank which was touted as 'Amazon for higher education'.
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The company was acquired by JP Morgan in 2021 for $175 million and Javice was made managing director at the bank.
So far so good.
Sharing this news to LinkedIn, Javice claimed that her business had helped 'over 5 million students at over 6,000 colleges'.
These numbers were false.
In April of this year, the now 31-year-old was charged by the US Justice Department for 'falsely and dramatically inflating the number of customers of her company' in order to get JPMorgan Chase to buy it.
According to the lawsuit, she only had 300,000 customers and had fabricated data to show a larger customer base.
She'd even hired a data scientist to make up millions of customers.
As a result, she was charged with separate counts of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Javice has denied all the allegations against her.
However, she isn't the first 30 under 30 member to land into hot water with the law.
Sam Bankman-Fried appeared on the list in 2021, but is facing a range of charges following the collapse of his crypto-currency company FTX.
These charges include bribing a foreign government, money laundering and making unlawful political contributions.
His colleague, Caroline Ellison was touted by Forbes the following year.
In December, she pleaded guilty to seven criminal charges which carried a maximum sentence of 110 years - but due to her compliance, she is set to get a more lenient punishment.
There's also Martin Shkreli, who made the list in 2012, before being sentenced to seven years in jail in 2018 for security fraud.
Elizabeth Holmes, whilst not on the list officially, did front a 30 Under 30s summit and has been convicted of fraud linked to her blood testing company.
Trevor Milton made it onto a similar list of 12 Under 40s for his zero-emission truck-maker company, before being convicted of fraud.
Tech entrepreneur Chris Bakke aptly summarised on Twitter: "The Forbes 30 Under 30 have collectively raised $5.3B in funding.
"The Forbes 30 Under 30 have also been arrested for frauds and scams worth over $18.5B. Incredible track record."