# Record wealth threshold as young billionaires surge in US

> Forbes' 2024 list shows ten billionaires under 40, mostly from AI, with four from Anthropic alone.
- Title: Record wealth threshold as young billionaires surge in US
- Summary: Forbes' 2024 list shows ten billionaires under 40, mostly from AI, with four from Anthropic alone. Forbes' annual billionaire list now includes ten…
- Keywords: forbes 400, billionaires, young wealth, ai founders, anthropic, wealth inequality, business, technology, Record, wealth, threshold, young
- Source: Business Insider — https://businessinsider.com/meet-10-of-the-youngest-billionaires-in-the-us-2026-9
- Author: Tristin Hoffman
- Published: 2026-09-21T17:20:37.898+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: forbes 400, billionaires, young wealth, ai founders, anthropic, wealth inequality, business, technology
## Record entry threshold for Forbes 400
Forbes released its annual list of America's four hundred richest billionaires in September. A record four point four billion dollars net worth was required to make the cut.
## Young billionaires surge on the list
Just ten billionaires under forty made the list, up from four on last year's list. Most of them did not inherit their wealth.
## AI boom drives young fortunes
Seven of the ten youngest billionaires got their money from the AI boom as founders. Four of those seven come from Anthropic, an AI company founded only five years ago.
## Anthropic valued at 1.5 trillion dollars
Anthropic is now valued at one point five trillion dollars in the secondary market. The company's seven cofounders all vowed earlier this year to donate eighty percent of their personal wealth to philanthropic causes.

> donate 80% of their personal wealth to philanthropic causes
## Other AI founders and one heir
The other three young billionaires are founders of Surge AI, OpenAI, and Cognition. Only one billionaire on the list, Lukas Walton, inherited wealth from a family fortune.
## Young billionaires mostly in California
Lukas Walton, grandson of Walmart founder Sam Walton, is one of two young billionaires who do not live in California. The other, Edwin Chen, lives in New York.
## Key takeaway

Forbes' annual billionaire list now includes ten under-forty billionaires, up from four last year, with most building AI companies rather than inheriting wealth.