The youngest billionaire in the world is Brazilian and a shareholder of WEG; see Forbes list

Forbes in the United States published the list of billionaires for 2024 this Tuesday (2), which shows the Brazilian Livia Voigt as the youngest billionaire in the world, at 19 years old, with an estimated net worth of R$5.5 billion (US$1.1 billion).

Voigt is one of the individual shareholders of WEG (WEGE3), a multinational electronic equipment company, operating mainly in the capital goods sector. She is the granddaughter of the now deceased Werner Ricardo Voigt, co-founder of the company, as well as her sister, Dora Voigt de Assis, 26 years old, also an individual shareholder of WEG and holder of assets equal to Lívia’s, according to American Forbes.

In the global ranking, Clemente del Vecchio, also 19 years old, shares the position of youngest billionaire in the world with Lívia Voigt, but with an even greater fortune: US$4.7 billion of net worth (R$23.74 billion). He is one of six children of the late Leonardo Del Vecchio, who presided over EssilorLuxottica, the largest glasses and lenses company in the world, owner of brands such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, Persol, Transitions, Varilux and Crizal.

Considering wealth, Forbes chose brothers Zahan Mistry, 25 years old, and Firoz Mistry, 27 years old, as the richest young people (under 30 years old) in the world – each with a net worth of US$4.9 billion (R$24.75 billion).

Global ranking

Bernard Arnault, president and chief executive of LVMH (a fashion conglomerate that owns brands such as Louis Vuitton and Sephora), overtook the co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk, and became the richest person in the world, with a net worth of US$233 billion (almost R$1.2 trillion).

He is followed by Musk, with a fortune of US$195 billionJeff Bezos, co-founder of Amazon, with US$194 billionMark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and CEO of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), with US$177 billionand Larry Ellison, president, chief technology officer and co-founder of software giant Oracle, with US$141 billion.

In Brazil

The richest Brazilian in the world is Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Meta Platforms, formerly Facebook. His net worth reaches US$28 billion (R$ 141.4 billion). In the global list, he appears in 60th position.

In Brazil, he is followed by the heiress of the late Joseph Safra of Banco Safra, Vicky Safra, who has an estimated net worth of US$20.6 billion (R$100 billion), also considering the fortune of his four children.

Then appear the shareholders of 3G Capital (which includes AB Inbev, Ambev’s controlling company) Jorge Paulo Lemann, with assets of US$16.4 billionMarcel Herrmann Telles, US$10.9 billionand Carlos Alberto Sicupira, US$8.9 billion.

Richest women in Brazil

Vicky Safra is the richest woman in Brazil. She is followed by Ana Lucia de Mattos Barretto Villela, great-granddaughter of one of the founders of the Itaú bank (Itaú Unibanco) and one of the largest individual shareholders of Itausa, the bank’s holding company, and vice-president of the board of directors, with a net worth of US$1.9 billion (R$9.6 billion).

Then Neide Helena de Moraes, heiress of the Votorantim Group, appears, with US$1.5 billionCristina Junqueira, founder of Nubank, with US$1.4 billionand Mariana Voigt Schwartz Gomes, also an individual shareholder of WEG, with US$1.3 billion.