Forbes rich list: Kylie Jenner is the world's youngest billionaire

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Europe

01:07

Kylie Jenner, 21, is the world's youngest billionaire according to Forbes' 2019 rich list. While China has 324 billionaires on the list, none of them are under the age of 30. Should that be a cause for concern?

Jenner, who is controversially described as “self-made” by Forbes despite her wealthy Kardashian background, is worth one billion U.S. dollars based on the success of her Kylie cosmetics range.

Jenner overtakes Mark Zuckerberg's record as the youngest ever self-made billionaire, with the Facebook founder just 23 when he made his first billion.

There are currently eight billionaires under the age of 30, but none of them are Chinese.

The world's richest newcomer to the list comes from China. Pinduoduo founder Huang Zheng, with a fortune of 13.5 billion U.S. dollars, is 39 years old.

China's youngest name on the list is 33-year-old Wu Jihan, CEO of cryptocurrency company Bitmain, with a net value of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars.

A Forbes list published last year of China's richest people named only nine people under the age of 40, compared to 12 from the United States.

Young billionaires are arguably a sign of strong innovation in the private sector, particularly in the tech industry. And while China hasn't produced any billionaires under 30 this year, a look at the average age of all billionaires in the country paints a different picture.

According to the most recent Hurun Report, the average age of China's billionaires is 57, 10 years younger than the United States and five years younger than the global average.

Meanwhile, Forbes' list of billionaires under 30 reveals that all but two of them inherited their fortunes, rather than amassing their wealth on their own.

While Kylie Jenner is officially ranked by Forbes as being a “self-made” billionaire, her parents are worth an estimated combined 160 million U.S. dollars.

The Hurun Report shows that 74 percent of China's billionaires were self-made, without any parental financial support. In contrast, only 11 percent of American billionaires made their own fortunes without any help.