The boom in crypto trading has added a few new faces to this year’s Forbes Youngest Billionaires list.
The richest newcomer is FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who at the age of 29 is worth a staggering $22.5 billion, according to Forbes. With the massive growth of FTX alone this year, we’ve seen the crypto exchange sign major sponsorship deals with NBA teams, expand its US arm, and move towards adopting regulations.
Slightly behind Bankman-Fried are Coinbase co-founders Fred Ehrsam and Brian Armstrong, aged 33 and 38, respectively. Ehrsam, who is worth $3.5 billion after helping found Coinbase in 2012, left the crypto exchange in 2017, but took a large stake in the company, whose value rose after the exchange went public. As CEO, Armstrong owns a much larger stake than his co-founder, putting his net worth at $11.5 billion.
Next on the list is Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, who is 36 years old and has a net worth of $2.9 billion. He left his position as co-CEO of the company in 2020, leaving the sole CEO to Vlad Tenev.
Six of the seven crypto entrepreneurs listed on the broader Forbes 400, including Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, are new this year. The only crypto boss to emerge again, Mt. Jed McCaleb, who founded several notable crypto companies, including Gox, Ripple, and Stellar.
The richest American on Forbes’ 2021 list is Jeff Bezos, with a fortune of $201 billion.