For the second year in a row, the youngest billionaire in the world is 20-year-old Alexandra Andresen. She and her 21-year-old sister Katharina Andresen entered the coveted World’s Billionaires List in 2016 after their father gave control of the family-run company to the sisters. Both the sisters have $1.2 billion fortune.
The family fortune mainly comprises of the returns incurred from tobacco brand Tiedemanns which was founded by the great-great-great-grandfather of the two sisters. In 2005, their father Johan F Andresen sold the brand for nearly half a billion dollars thereby transferring 84 per cent of the equity in their family-run investment company Ferd to his two daughters in 2007.
Though she is elated with her name being on the top of the list, Alexandra says there is a great sense of responsibility. She also says that she “in a way” feels that she doesn’t deserve it but wants to let no stone unturned to help Ferd become even better. “I think it’s difficult to find a way to give something back,” she says. Alexandra is a professional dressage competitor and currently lives in Germany.
In last year’s list too, there were a record number of billionaires under the age of 40. However, the number of young billionaires in the 2017 list has fallen by 10 from 66 to 56.
Meanwhile, 26-year-old Stripe cofounder John Collison is the youngest self-made billionaire. He along with his 28-year-old brother Patrick Collison entered the club when they started the payments startup Stripe. They raised a funding at a $9.2 billion valuation in November 2016 and both the brothers have $1.1 billion fortune each.
