17. Sam Bankman-Fried
Company: FTX, Alameda Research
Net Worth: $18 billion* (FTX Valuation)
Cryptocurrency, as people who have been on social media or read the news know, is the newest thing in finance. This decentralized currency has the ability to make people extremely rich, if they can look past the currency’s volatility on the market. Sam Bankman-Fried, the son of two law professors, is an example of how wealthy crypto can make someone.
Sam Bankman-Fried @Sam Bankman-Fried / Facebook.com
Bankman-Fried, a former Jane Street Capital trader, is the co-founder of FTX, a company for which he also serves as the CEO. FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange that is based in Hong Kong. FTX is valued at $18 billion, but it’s not the only company Bankman-Fried has under his belt. He also owns Alameda Research, a quantitative crypto trading firm.