Facebook founder is youngest billionaire

Mark Zuckerberg, the 23-year-old founder of social networking site Facebook, is the youngest-ever self-made billionaire, according to Forbes.

"He is the youngest billionaire in the world right now and we also believe he is the youngest self-made billionaire in history," said the magazine's associate editor Matthew Miller as he unveiled this year's list of billionaires.

The magazine put the former Harvard student's personal wealth at US$1.5 billion, based on what it said was a conservative valuation of US$5 billion for Facebook and his estimated 30 per cent stake.

That estimate makes him the 785th richest person in the world.

Forbes played down speculation that the site could be worth as much as US$15 billion, which was based on Microsoft paying US$240 million for a 1.6 per cent stake in the company last year.

"Would it really fetch that much today? Some analysts - and a few Facebook investors - doubt it," the magazine said.

It said it based its valuation on Facebook's estimated annual sales of US$150 million.

Mr Zuckerberg is the third-youngest billionaire ever to grace Forbes' billionaires list, but the other two inherited their wealth.

They were Albert II, prince of Thurn and Taxis, heir to a German fortune dating back to the Holy Roman Empire. He inherited his fortune as a seven-year-old when his father died in 1990.

Hind Hariri, a Lebanese heir to a banking, real estate, oil and telecommunications fortune, inherited it at 22.

Mr Zuckerberg is one of a record-breaking number of young billionaires this year, with Forbes listing 50 under the age of 40. They include 26-year-old Yang Huiyan , the richest person on the mainland. The average age of those on the list dropped to 61, helped by Russia, where the average of billionaires was 46, and the mainland, where the average was 48.

SCMP. Mar 07, 2008