US Gen Y entrepreneurs make Australia’s Young Rich look poor

Loaded by any measure ... Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (28) may have seen his fortune whittled away by the social network’s poor share price performance, but he’s still worth way more than any young Australian. Photo: Reuters

When Facebook was floated on the Nasdaq in May 2012, the accepted hyperbole in Silicon Valley was that it would create 850 millionaires, 600 of whom were employees of the company.

Top of the list was public friend number one, Mark Zuckerberg, 28, whose pre-IPO fortune was estimated at $US18.95 billion.

The narrative has since soured, with Mark Zuckerberg turning enemy as eager retail investors have watched their Facebook shares fall about 42 per cent to the $US22 level they are now hovering around.

This slide has put a big dent in Zuckerberg’s wealth. Last week Forbes magazine reported Zuckerberg’s net worth had fallen $US8.1 billion, the biggest drop of anyone on the Forbes 400. But with a fortune worth an estimated $US9.4 billion, he’s still the richest young entrepreneur around and still out ranks all of the BRW Young Rich by a long shot.

And he’s not the only Facebook alumni to benefit from the social network’s record $US100 billion float valuation.

At the time, consultancy Wealth-X estimated that co-founders Dustin Moskovitz, and Eduardo Saverin, had wealth of $US4.8 billion and $US2.7 billion respectively. Forbes now reckons Moskovitz, 28, is worth $US2.7 billion and Saverin, 30, has a fortune of $US2.2 billion.

Despite the initial share price volatility, for these billionaires, what’s not to like?

BRW’s 2012 Young Rich list is out September 27.

NOW FIND OUT Where wealthy young Australians live

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