Meet the world’s youngest billionaire — a mysterious heir who has quietly amassed a $5.7 billion fortune without most of us even knowing his name.
The majority of billionaires are between the ages of 50 and 79, but a select few manage to reach that milestone before they’ve even finished their university years.
How rare is this kind of achievement? According to Forbes, there are only 21 billionaires under 30 in the world, and all but two inherited their fortunes.
Those two fresh-faced self-made billionaires are Australian Ed Craven, 29, who cofounded crypto-backed online casino Stake.com, and American Alexandr Wang, 28, who cofounded AI data company Scale AI.
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Also among the list of under-30 billionaires are the siblings who are heirs of Boehringer Ingelheim. The youngest of the four siblings has just been named the youngest billionaire in the world.
Johannes von Baumbach is the world’s youngest billionaire at just 20 years old, thanks to his family’s stake in Boehringer Ingelheim.
Johannes is one of four von Baumbach siblings, aged 24, 26, and 27, each reportedly worth around $5.7 billion.
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The family is notoriously private, and it remains unclear whether Johannes or his siblings hold any roles within the company, which has been led by their uncle, Hubertus von Baumbach, since 2015. Outside of business, Johannes is known to compete in skiing events in Austria.
How was Johannes von Baumbach's $5.7 billion fortune made?
Boehringer Ingelheim is the world’s largest privately-owned pharmaceutical company, a family-run enterprise that has built immense wealth over generations
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Founded in 1885 by Albert Boehringer and headquartered in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany, the health company has evolved over roughly 140 years into a leader in human and animal health.
The company develops a broad range of medicines and treatments, including therapies for respiratory diseases such as COPD and asthma, innovative solutions for managing type 2 diabetes, and advanced anticoagulation drugs that help prevent stroke and blood clots.
On its website, Boehringer Ingelheim notes: "Our focus is on improving the quality of life of patients suffering from debilitating respiratory diseases and enabling them to maintain a more independent life.”
Its Animal Health division is another global leader in veterinary medicine, dedicated to developing and delivering products that protect and enhance animal well-being.
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The division offers vaccines, parasiticides, pharmaceuticals, and other innovative therapies for both companion animals and livestock.
In case you're wondering, Elon Musk remains is the richest person in the world overall, with his net worth at the time of writing reaching $477.4 billion. His wealth is primarily from his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX.
Gregory Robinson