Who wants to be a millionaire?
Just about everyone would answer yes to that question, but not as many would know exactly how to go about it. The ten people in this list not only made millionaire status, but they achieved it before the age of 20!
Some of these kids turned millionaires you have heard of, such as Justin Bieber and Emma Watson, and perhaps Mark Zuckerberg. However, not all of them had the opportunity to make it in the widely publicized fields of acting and musical performance. Most of them you probably haven’t heard of. They began and became successful with the expansion of the internet, with many focusing on the rise of social media.
Reading about these youngsters and their entrepreneurial enterprises can be very inspirational, especially the ones who started out of their own homes with little or no initial investments. For them, it was all about innovation and strategy. When asked about their routes to success or advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, they all invariably mention that you have to take the risk, and don’t give up when things don’t work out. I guess it’s like our parents always told us (admit it, you didn’t want to listen to them), “If at first you don’t succeed, try…try again!”
Image courtesy of Chiva/INFphoto.com
[new page = #10]
Juliette Brindak
Net worth: 30 million
At the age of 16, Juliette Brindak started a website just for girls. It targeted preadolescent girls between the ages of 9 – 12, commonly referred to as “tweens,” though it had aspects that would still hold the interest of girls up to age 16. Based off of sketches she did of her friends when she herself was a tween, the Miss O and Friends site is a place for young girls to network. Brindak told Business Insider, “the goal for the site was, and still is, to help young girls build confidence and self-esteem."
[new page = #9]
Adam Hildreth
Net worth: 38 million
Adam Hildreth got his start at age 14, when he and his friends started up their own website called Dubit Limited. Although it was designed to support social-networking for teenagers, it became the focus of companies who wanted to market toward their age group. Due to the success of Dubit Limited, Forbes reports, Hildreth was already worth over 3 million by the age of 19.
He later co-founded Crisp Thinking, a software company that uses analytics to identify, warn and block users from online games if they behave inappropriately or bully other users. Bloomberg Business provides a full description of how the software works, and in the following video, Hildreth explains the secrets of his success.
Fidgits: Adam Hildreth from Fidgit Box on Vimeo.
[new page = #8]
Tyler Dikman
Net worth: 40 million
When Tyler Dikman was 15 years old, he founded the CoolTronics technology consulting company. Working out of his house, he helped people with their computer needs, for a fee. By the time he was 18, CoolTronics was already raking in a cool million a year. CoolTronics is still in business, but Dikman has pursued additional ventures throughout the years, including co-founding LoungeBuddy. LoungeBuddy is an app that you can use to provide you with all the information you could want to know about airport lounges, including their proximity as well as pictures and ratings by other users. The idea is to save you valuable time in finding the perfect spot for your travel interim. You can read more about Dikman, CoolTronics, LoungeBuddy, and his other accomplishments at CrunchBase.
[new page = #7]
Sean Belnick
Net worth: 42 million
An entrepreneur at heart, Sean Belnick’s innovative ideas for web design and reselling began around age 14. He got his big break designing a web page for his step-father’s business, and before he knew it, he had moved on to his own. He set himself up as an office furniture reseller, with the creation of his website BizChair.com. Functioning as the middleman between the furniture whole sellers and the customers, ensuring the product was shipped directly to the customers, he was able to run the business with minimal overhead, allowing him to earn his first million by age 16. You can read more about BizChair.com and it’s founding at Sean Belnick’s self-titled website.
[new page = #6]
Emma Watson
Net worth: 60 million
Emma Watson is a well-known actress, who have received numerous nominations and won awards from MTV Movie Awards and People’s Choice Awards, just to name a few. She knew she wanted to be an actress as early as age six. At age nine she landed her first cinematic role as Hermione from the Harry Potter series. The Harry Potter franchise grossed her over 10 million before she reached 20 years of age. As a young adult, Watson has continued her acting career, and as previously reported, stars in the upcoming film Regression; a film that has a bit more adult content in it.
Top image courtesy of INFphoto.com
[new page = #5]
John Koon
Net worth: 80 million
By age 16, John Koon was already a millionaire. Only a year prior he began a company called Extreme Performance Motorsports, in which he shipped car accessory parts and kits from Asia. After his success within the automotive industry, Koon expanded his sights to include apparel. He eventually developed his renowned menswear line, Private Stock. You can read more about him and his products at his website: privatestockbrand.com.
[new page = #4]
Chris Phillips
Net worth: 82 million
Image via Facebook from Just Develop It
Chris Phillips, another entrepreneur at age 16, got his start by buying a single server and charging companies for hosting their websites. By the age of 17 his hosting services were so successful that he was able to sell his company for millions. Later, he began another hosting business called JustHost, which has expanded into a much larger company that now goes by the name of Just Develop It. You can learn more about their ventures and how Phillips progressed through his career at justdevelop.it.
[new page = #3]
Justin Bieber
Net worth: 200 million
Justin Bieber is the well-known Canadian singer that just can’t seem to stay out of the lime light. Like many teens, Bieber uploaded videos of himself on YouTube, but unlike many teens, it was these YouTube videos that gained him entrance into the entertainment industry. By age 16 he had landed an agent and by age 18 he was already worth over 100 million. Bieber has had his fair share of negative media attention and legal issues, but maintains a healthy career and a multimillion member fan base. As previously reported, Justin Bieber is now the new face of Calvin Klein, and is in the Comedy Central Roast lineup for March.
The video for Bieber’s first hit single “One Time” features Usher, who is largely behind Bieber’s success, as one of his initial backers:
And for those of you who liked it, here’s the hit he is most well-known for, “Baby ft. Ludacris:”
[new page = #2]
Andrew Gower
Net worth: 680 million
Andrew Gower is the creator of the online game RuneScape, which now has over 200 million users. It was developed by Jagex Game Studios, the company he co-founded with his brothers. After leaving Jagex Game Studios and RuneScape behind, Gower established his own company, Fen Research. Fen Research was designed around the idea of creating a new coding system that would allow them to create new games and improvements quickly and efficiently. As of right now, Fen Research has developed its first online game, Solstrike and has a second game in the works. You can read more about it at fenresearch.com.
[new page = #1]
Mark Zuckerberg
Net worth: 33.4 billion
Computer programmer extraordinaire, Mark Zuckerberg is the co-founder of Facebook. Enough said, right? However, what you might not know is that Zuckerberg started developing computer based programming at the age of 12 when he took his Atari BASIC and turned it into a messaging program. His skills blossomed from there into the realm of designing video games, followed by music software, and eventually into creating social media websites. He was a multi- millionaire by the time he was 20, and his worth only continues to grow.