''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is a set of lists published annually by ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine since 2011 consisting of 30 notable people under 30 years old in various industries. The American list consists of 600 people, with 30 selected in each of 20 sectors. The Asia and Europe lists each have 10 categories for a total of 300 people each, while Africa has a single list of 30 people. ''Forbes'' hosts associated conferences and a section of its website called 30 Under 30. The nomination process for ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 is open to the public, and people may nominate themselves or another as long as the nominee is under 30 years of age. The final 30 under 30 list published by ''Forbes'' is divided into different categories of industries: Art & Style, Hollywood & Entertainment, Retail & ECommerce, Healthcare, Consumer Technology, Sports, Marketing and Advertising, Energy, Science, Media, Music, Social Media, Manufacturing & Industry, Social Impact, Finance, Venture Capital, Food & Drink, Education, Enterprise Technology, and Games. According to ''Forbes'', the 30 honorees under the age of 30 in each industry list are scouted and selected by the editors of ''Forbes'', independent judges, celebrity judges, and industry experts.

History

''Forbes'' launched its 30 Under 30 list in 2011 under the direction of editor-in-chief Randall Lane, aiming to recognize young entrepreneurs, leaders, and innovators across 20 categories. By 2016, nominations had surpassed 15,000, with ''Forbes'' editors and industry experts selecting 30 winners per category based on criteria such as innovation, impact, and leadership. Over time, ''Forbes'' expanded the initiative to include regional lists for Asia (launched in 2016), Europe (2016), and Africa, recognizing thousands of young innovators and establishing the list as a global benchmark for emerging talent. By 2022, ''Forbes'' reported over 100,000 nominations, reflecting the list's growing influence. To mark the 10th anniversary, ''Forbes'' introduced the 30 Under 30 Hall of Fame, highlighting influential alumni, who were ''Forbes'' 30 under 30 honorees over the years, such as

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

winner

Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai (; , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani female education activist, film and television producer, and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 17. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, ...

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

founder

Mark Zuckerberg Mark Elliot Zuckerberg (; born May 14, 1984) is an American businessman who co-founded the social media service Facebook and its parent company Meta Platforms, of which he is the chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling sharehold ...

, athlete

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. ( ; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is the NBA's all-time leading scorer and ...

, musician

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( , born Destiny Hope Cyrus, November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and director. Regarded as a contemporary pop icon, Cyrus has been recognized for her evolving artistry and image reinventions. She is ...

, media personality

Kylie Jenner Kylie Kristen Jenner (born August 10, 1997) is an American media personality, socialite and businesswoman. She starred in the E! reality television series ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians'' from 2007 to 2021 and then the Hulu reality televisi ...

and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

founder

Daniel Ek Daniel Georg Ek (; born 21 February 1983) is a Swedish businessman and technologist. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of music streaming service Spotify. As of May 2025, his net worth was estimated at $9.2 billion by ''For ...

. ''Forbes'' also leveraged the 30 Under 30 brand through a dedicated digital channel and a

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

app, developed in collaboration with

Tinder Tinder is easily Combustibility and flammability, combustible material used to Firemaking, start a fire. Tinder is a finely divided, open material which will begin to glow under a shower of sparks. Air is gently wafted over the glowing tinder unt ...

co-founder and ''Forbes'' 30 under 30 honoree

Sean Rad Sean Rad (born May 22, 1986) is an Iranian-American entrepreneur and the Founder of Tinder (app), Tinder. Rad launched Tinder in 2012 and by 2015, Tinder was the top grossing app in 99 countries, and in 2017, Tinder became the highest grossing ...

, to engage

millennials Millennials, also known as Generation Y or Gen Y, are the demographic cohort following Generation X and preceding Generation Z. Researchers and popular media use the early 1980s as starting birth years and the mid-1990s to early 2000s a ...

and promote networking among young professionals.

''Forbes'' 30 under 30 Summits

In addition to the magazine feature, ''Forbes'' hosts an annual ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used only for ...

. In 2014 and 2015, the summit was held in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, with

Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist. Lewinsky became internationally known in the late 1990s after U.S. President Bill Clinton admitted to having had an affair with her during her days as a White House intern ...

making headlines at the first summit for her address on

cyberbullying Cyberbullying (cyberharassment or online bullying) is a form of bullying or harassment using electronic means. Since the 2000s, it has become increasingly common, especially among teenagers and adolescents, due to young people's increased u ...

. The 2016 and 2017 summits were both held in October in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. Organizers include previous 30 Under 30 honorees chef Chris Coombs, Boston mayoral aide Dan Koh, and pediatric oncology professor Cigall Kadoch. In April 2016, ''Forbes'' held its first 30 Under 30 international summit, focused on

Europe, the Middle East and Africa Europe, the Middle East and Africa, commonly known by its acronym EMEA among the North American business spheres, is a geographical region used by institutions, governments and global spheres of marketing, media and business when referring to t ...

and taking place in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

and

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

. Speakers included

Shimon Peres Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...

and Okieriete Onaodowan. Onaodowan was a 2016 honoree on the 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list for his portrayal of Hercules Mulligan and

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

in ''Hamilton''.

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

was the first African country to host ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 in April 2022. In 2023, the ''Forbes'' 30 under 30 Summit was held in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–United States border, Canada–U.S. maritime border ...

, with speakers such as

Kendall Jenner Kendall Nicole Jenner (born November 3, 1995) is an American model, socialite and media personality. She rose to fame in the reality television show ''Keeping Up with the Kardashians,'' in which she starred for 20 seasons and nearly 15 years ...

(2024 honoree in the Art & Style category),

Bad Bunny Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio (; born March 10, 1994), better known by his stage name Bad Bunny, is a Puerto Rican rapper and singer. Known as the " King of Latin Trap", Bad Bunny is credited with helping Spanish-language rap music achieve m ...

(2019 honoree in the Music category) and Machine Gun Kelly.

Demographic Criticism

The 30 Under 30 list has drawn criticism for under-representation of women and racial minorities. ''The Root'' observed that 29 of 30 journalists honored on the inaugural Media category list in 2011 were white, and none were of African descent or Latino. ''

Elle Elle may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Elle (magazine), ''Elle'' (magazine), a fashion publication ** Elle Style Awards * Elle (India), ''Elle'' (India), the Indian edition * Elle (film), ''Elle'' (film), a 2016 French film * ''Elle: ...

South Africa'' noted the gender imbalance of the 2014 lists, asking, "Where are the women?" Demographics of the ''Forbes'' selections have continued to draw interest; ''Poynter'' reported the 2015 Media list had 18 women, the most in the list's five-year history.

"Forbes-to-Fraud Pipeline" Criticism

Some 30 Under 30 honorees have gone on to face various scandals, especially in the Finance category, leading some critics to humorously describe the list as a "Forbes-to-Fraud Pipeline". It has also jokingly been described by some critics in opinion pieces as the "Curse of the Forbes 30 Under 30" with "few things are as reliable in prophesying a fall from grace as 30 Under 30". Honorees on the list were reported to have collectively raised $5.3 billion in funding while being arrested for scams or frauds worth over $18.5 billion as of 2023. ''Forbes'' has described its success rate at vetting as 99.9 percent. However, ''Forbes'' playfully published a "hall of shame" article in 2023 describing the following 10 picks as "duds": *

Sam Bankman-Fried Samuel Benjamin Bankman-Fried (born March 5, 1992), commonly known as SBF, is an American entrepreneur who was convicted of fraud and related crimes in November 2023. Bankman-Fried founded the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and was celebrated as a ...

, Finance, 2021 (convicted of financial fraud and conspiracy) * Caroline Ellison, Finance, 2022 (Bankman-Fried's co-conspirator) * Charlie Javice, Finance, 2019 (convicted for financial fraud and conspiracy) * Nate Paul, Finance, 2016 (convicted of lying to lenders) * Martin Shkreli, Finance, 2013 (stock manipulation) *

Cody Wilson Cody Rutledge Wilson (born January 31, 1988) is an American Right to keep and bear arms in the United States, gun rights activist and Crypto-anarchism, crypto-anarchist. He started Defense Distributed, a nonprofit organization, non-profit organ ...

, Law and Policy, 2014 (sex offender) * James O'Keefe, Media, 2012 (financial malfeasance with donor money) * Phadria Prendergast, Marketing and Media Europe, 2023 (ran operation linked to a religious cult) * Steph Korey, Retail & E-commerce, 2016 (workplace bullying) * Lucas Duplan, Finance, 2014 (misuse of raised funds) Some 30 Under 30 honorees who were later implicated in other controversies include Do Kwon, a 2019 Finance honoree facing financial fraud charges, Matilda Djerf, a 2023 honoree accused of

workplace bullying Workplace bullying is a persistent pattern of mistreatment from others in the workplace that causes physical and/or emotional harm. It includes verbal, nonverbal Nonverbal communication is the transmission of messages or signals through a non ...

, Joanna Smith-Griffin, a 2021 honoree now charged with fraud, Abraham Shafi, charged in 2024 with defrauding investors, and

Olivia Nuzzi Olivia Nuzzi ( ; born January 6, 1993) is an American political reporter who was the Washington, D.C., correspondent for '' New York'' magazine from 2017 to 2024. Prior to her time at ''New York'', Nuzzi was a writer for ''The Daily Beast'' cove ...

, a 2018 honoree who exchanged sexts with U.S. Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. A controversial high-profile executive,

Elizabeth Holmes Elizabeth Anne Holmes (born February 3, 1984) is an American biotechnology entrepreneur who was convicted of fraud in connection with her blood-testing company, Theranos. The company's valuation soared after it claimed to have revolutionize ...

, was never selected to become a ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 honoree, but was asked by ''Forbes'' to be a speaker at a ''Forbes'' 30 Under 30 Summit.

References

External links