Inside The Biggest Numbers Of The 2026 Forbes 30 Under 30 List

Forbes

A look behind the statistics of the 2026 Under 30 List—from $3.8 billion in funding to 200 million fans online.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexyork/2025/12/02/by-the-numbers-meet-the-forbes-under-30-class-of-2026/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, by the numbers, meet the Forbes Under-30 Class of 2026.

00:07The 2026 Forbes 30 Under-30 List was released yesterday, Tuesday.

00:13This Under-30 Class marks the list's 15th year.

00:17That's 15 years spotlighting the country's brightest young entrepreneurs.

00:22Over that time, the Under-30 List has proven to be the farm league

00:25for America's next generation of business leaders.

00:28In fact, 46 Under-30 honorees have gone on to become Forbes billionaires.

00:34Much has changed since Forbes' first Under-30 List debuted in January 2012.

00:40The number of categories has expanded as new industries flourish.

00:44The funding and revenue numbers generated by listers have soared.

00:49And the competition has grown fiercer than ever.

00:52Each year, more than 10,000 people apply, and the bar to make the list continues to rise.

00:59Despite sweeping change, the requirements to be a pioneering entrepreneur remain constant.

01:05Imagination, intelligence, and plenty of grit.

01:09The honorees on this year's Forbes 30 Under-30 have these traits in spades and are using them to shape the future.

01:14And now, in the midst of an AI revolution, they're leading the charge.

01:20The new class is using machine learning to do everything from building robotic astronauts

01:24to creating powerful tools that let anyone become a genius coder or master artist.

01:29To create the Under-30 List, Forbes reporters harness their authoritative reporting, robust sources, and independent experts.

01:38Judges this year include pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo, actress Yara Shahidi, billionaire entrepreneur Palmer Luckey,

01:46AI50 startup founder May Habib, and basketball player Kyle Kuzma.

01:51More than 10,000 candidates were evaluated on their impact, financials, and potential to scale.

01:57The result?

01:59600 young leaders across 20 industries who are impacting both culture and economies.

02:05Take Jesse Zhang, the founder of the $1.5 billion valuation Decagon.

02:11He's raised $255 million from investors to sell AI agents that can handle customer service tasks

02:18for consumer companies like Duolingo and ClassPass.

02:22Zhang says, quote,

02:23Whenever there's a big technology shift, it just opens the door for a lot of companies.

02:28But the number of great ideas is usually pretty small.

02:31Your job as a founder is to try to figure out what those are.

02:35Under-30 honorees are reinventing old industries, too.

02:39Take 27-year-olds Eric Herrera and Jesse Evans,

02:43who are manufacturing proteins that can dissolve rocks to make mining less invasive and harmful.

02:49Catherine Sizov, who is 29 years old, is tapping AI and smart sensors to prevent food waste

02:55and ensure the ripest produce hits the grocery stores.

02:59Jonathan Lord, also 29, is building electric boat engines.

03:03Think the Tesla of the sea.

03:07Entertainers are proving entrepreneurial, too.

03:10Claudia Sulewski, who is 29 years old, turned her YouTube channel into a body care brand

03:15that's raking in an estimated $15 million this year.

03:19Alex Warren, who is 25, transformed a gig at social media creator collective Hype House into a chart-topping song.

03:26His hit Ordinary has more than 5 billion global streams, and into a U.S. arena tour.

03:34Meanwhile, Under-30 alumna Lily Reinhardt, whose big break came with CW's teen hit Riverdale,

03:40has turned her growing movie stardom, and her 30 million social media followers,

03:45into a fast-growing skincare company, Personal Day,

03:48which brought in an estimated $10 million in its first calendar year.

03:52This year's under-30 honorees are backed by the biggest funders.

03:57This year's class counts more than $3.8 billion in cumulative investments,

04:02up from $3.6 billion last year.

04:05And they have global influence, with a combined 200 million social followers.

04:09The average age of under-30s held constant this year, at age 27.

04:15And the youngest is 17-year-old Momin Ahmed from the Education List.

04:20He's building Model UN Academy, a platform that's helped more than 17,000 students

04:24in more than 100 countries gain access to Model UN guides and resources.

04:2941% of the individuals that appear on this year's list self-identify as a person of color.

04:36And 22% are immigrants, who hail from countries including China, India, Mexico, Korea, and Australia,

04:44among other home countries.

04:467 in 10 of this year's class are members of Gen Z, born in 1997 or later.

04:52This is up from 50% last year, and will be the final list with any Millennials listed.

04:57For full coverage, check out Alexandra York and Zoya Hassan's piece on Forbes.com.

05:06This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

05:08Thanks for tuning in.

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