Key Takeaways
- Germany is home to half of the EU’s 14 youngest billionaires. Germany has 78 of the world’s 500 largest family businesses, which gives it many companies to inherit.
- The von Baumbach, Del Vecchio, and Mistry families produce 8 of the EU’s 14 youngest billionaires. One family company can create several billionaires because each child inherits their own share.
- Fabian Hedin and Arvid Lunnemark are the only self-made billionaires among the EU’s 14 youngest. Self-made wealth is rarer in the EU because the EU raises just 5% of the world’s venture capital.
- Inheriting part of a family company is still the main way to become a billionaire before 30 in the EU. Old family companies are already worth billions, while young founders must first grow a startup that big.
Youngest Billionaires With EU Citizenship
| Billionaire | Citizenship | Age | Net Worth ($) | Source of Wealth |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johannes von Baumbach | Germany | 20 | 6.6B | Pharmaceuticals |
| Clemente Del Vecchio | Italy | 21 | 6.8B | Eyeglasses |
| Kevin David Lehmann | Germany | 23 | 4.9B | Drugstores |
| Franz von Baumbach | Germany | 24 | 6.6B | Pharmaceuticals |
| Remi Dassault | France | 24 | 2.4B | Diversified |
| Luca Del Vecchio | Italy | 24 | 6.8B | Eyeglasses |
| Maxim Tebar | Germany | 25 | 1.2B | Chainsaws |
| Katharina von Baumbach | Germany | 26 | 6.6B | Pharmaceuticals |
| Fabian Hedin* | Sweden | 26 | 1.6B | AI coding |
| Arvid Lunnemark* | Sweden | 26 | 1.3B | AI software |
| Carl-Anton Kunz | Germany | 27 | 1.1B | Plumbing and heating supplies |
| Zahan Mistry | Ireland | 27 | 3.1B | Diversified |
| Maximilian von Baumbach | Germany | 28 | 6.6B | Pharmaceuticals |
| Firoz Mistry | Ireland | 29 | 3.1B | Diversified |
Source: Forbes
Billionaires of the same age share a rank and are listed alphabetically by surname.
Forbes lists Johannes von Baumbach’s source of wealth as “Healthcare.” This table lists it as “Pharmaceuticals” because all four von Baumbach siblings share the same Boehringer Ingelheim fortune.
* = self-made fortune
Most of the EU’s Youngest Billionaires Inherited Family Companies
Fourteen of the world’s 35 billionaires under 30 hold EU citizenship. That is 40% of the world’s youngest billionaires as of March 2026.
Which Country in Europe Has the Most Billionaires? ->
Twelve of the EU’s 14 youngest billionaires inherited a stake in a family company from parents or other older relatives. A stake is a share of ownership in the company. By contrast, the other two built their own companies.
Kevin David Lehmann shows how a stake can make someone a billionaire. When Lehmann was only 14, his father gave him a 50% stake in Germany’s leading drugstore chain dm-drogerie markt.
dm-drogerie markt ran about 2,150 stores across Germany in its 2024/25 business year. Its German stores made €13.3 billion in sales that year.
Lehmann did not need to run dm to become a billionaire. Because dm is so large, his half of the company alone made him worth $4.9 billion as of March 2026.
Lehmann is one of 7 German heirs among the EU’s 14 youngest billionaires. All seven inherited stakes in four German family companies:
- Drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim: four von Baumbach siblings
- Drugstore chain dm: Kevin David Lehmann
- Chainsaw maker Stihl: Maxim Tebar
- Plumbing and heating wholesaler Cordes & Graefe: Carl-Anton Kunz
Germany’s Most Valuable Brands ->
Germany is home to 78 of the world’s 500 largest family businesses as of 2025. These companies pass ownership down to children, so a country with many of them can produce more young heirs.
8 of the EU’s 14 Youngest Billionaires Come From Three Families
Eight of the EU’s 14 youngest billionaires come from just three families. This happens because ownership of a family company is often split among several children.
If the company is valuable enough, each child’s share is worth at least $1 billion on its own. That turns one family company into several billionaires.
The Most Valuable Brands in the EU ->
The von Baumbach, Del Vecchio, and Mistry families held $46.2 billion together as of March 2026:
- von Baumbach: four siblings, $6.6B each
- Del Vecchio: two brothers, $6.8B each
- Mistry: two brothers, $3.1B each
The von Baumbach, Del Vecchio, and Mistry families hold almost $4 of every $5 owned by the EU’s 14 youngest billionaires.
The four von Baumbach siblings each inherited a stake in the German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim. Because Boehringer Ingelheim is family-owned, its shares stay in the family and pass from one generation to the next.
Like the von Baumbachs, Luca and Clemente Del Vecchio inherited their wealth through a family company. The Del Vecchio brothers are tied as the world’s richest billionaires under 30.
Luca and Clemente’s late father Leonardo Del Vecchio founded the eyeglasses company EssilorLuxottica. EssilorLuxottica owns well-known eyewear brands such as Ray-Ban and Oakley.
The family company Delfin holds the family’s shares in EssilorLuxottica. Each Del Vecchio brother owns 12.5% of Delfin. Through Delfin, each brother owns a share of EssilorLuxottica worth billions.
Unlike the von Baumbachs and the Del Vecchios, the Mistry family’s fortune comes from outside the EU. The EU’s youngest billionaires are counted by citizenship, not by where their money comes from.
Zahan and Firoz Mistry hold Irish citizenship. That is why both brothers count among the EU’s youngest billionaires.
Zahan and Firoz Mistry’s father was Cyrus Mistry. He was a former chairman of Tata Sons. The brothers each inherited a 4.6% stake in Tata Sons after their father died in 2022.
Tata Sons is the main company that owns shares in India’s Tata group. The Tata group includes well-known companies such as Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, and Tata Steel.
Only Two of the EU’s Youngest Billionaires Built Their Own Fortunes
Fabian Hedin and Arvid Lunnemark are the only self-made billionaires among the EU’s 14 youngest. Both are Swedish and made their money by starting AI software companies.
What Are the Most Popular AI Websites in Germany? ->
Unlike heirs, startup founders become billionaires when the companies they start become very valuable. A founder’s wealth is their share of the company multiplied by the company’s value.
Fabian Hedin cofounded the Swedish startup Lovable. Lovable lets people build apps by describing what they want in plain language.
Lovable launched in 2024 and grew very fast. Within about a year, customers were paying Lovable more than $200 million a year in subscriptions.
Lovable’s fast growth led private investors to value the company at $6.6 billion in December 2025. Hedin’s estimated 24% share of Lovable is worth about $1.6 billion.
Arvid Lunnemark built his fortune the same way, with an even bigger company. He cofounded the AI coding tool Cursor with three friends from MIT.
Millions of programmers use Cursor to write code. Cursor’s yearly revenue passed $1 billion by November 2025, when investors valued Cursor at $29.3 billion.
Even Lunnemark’s small 4.5% share of Cursor is worth about $1.3 billion.
Outside the EU, nearly half of the billionaires under 30 built their own fortunes, compared with just Hedin and Lunnemark in the EU. The difference is linked to how much venture capital EU startups raise to grow into billion-dollar companies.
How to Fund a Startup in Germany ->
Venture capital is money that investors put into young startups in exchange for a share of the company.
The EU raises just 5% of the world’s venture capital funds. Meanwhile, the US raises 52% and is home to 8 of the 10 self-made billionaires under 30 from outside the EU.
The EU’s small share of venture capital is linked to its split market. Rules still differ from country to country, so EU startups have weaker chances to grow big and seek less funding.
Less funding is linked to fewer EU startups growing into billion-dollar companies. In the EU, inheriting part of a family company is still the most common way to become a billionaire before 30.
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References
- https://www.forbes.com.au/news/billionaires/the-worlds-youngest-billionaires-2026/
- https://www.ey.com/en_uk/family-enterprise/family-business-index
- https://www.esmmagazine.com/retail/dm-drogerie-markt-reports-8-sales-growth-in-fy-2024-25-298521
- https://boehringer-ingelheim.com/careers/family-owned
- https://www.ansa.it/amp/english/news/2026/02/11/essilux-posts-revenue-of-28.4-billion-in-2025-a-4-dividend_ff49ad7e-737c-41e2-abc9-4a13ccd6f6f7.html
- https://www.deccanherald.com/dh-galleries/photos/cyrus-mistry-passes-away-all-you-need-to-know-about-former-tata-sons-chairman-1142109
- https://www.tata.com/investors/companies
- https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/18/vibe-coding-startup-lovable-raises-330m-at-a-6-6b-valuation/
- https://forbes.it/2025/11/14/cursor-quattro-fondatori-under-30-diventati-miliardari
- https://cursor.com/blog/series-d
- https://commission.europa.eu/topics/eu-competitiveness/draghi-report_en
