Today, Warren Buffett has a net worth of $75 billion. It took him 26 years from the time he became a millionaire to the time he made his first billion. Bill Gates has $90 billion today. It took him just five years to go from his first million to his first billion. That's pretty fast, but it has nothing on the billionaire with the fastest transition from millionaire to billionaire. That distinction goes to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who took just one year to make the leap from millionaire to billionaire.
Mark Zuckerberg debuted on the list of the world's billionaires in 2008. He was 23 years old. By 2009, he was off the list due to a drop in Facebook's valuation. The following year he was back in the billionaire's club and he's never looked back
Not surprisingly, founding a big tech company is one of the fastest ways to become a billionaire. It took Amazon's Jeff Bezos just two years to jump from millionaire to billionaire. Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin took five years to get there, just like Microsoft's Bill Gates.
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Below is a list of 25 of the richest billionaires in the world and how long it took them to make the leap from millionaire to billionaire.
Age he made first million: 27
Age he made first billion: 68
Years in between: 41
Warren Buffett
Age he made first million: 30
Age he made first billion: 56
Years in between: 26
Carlos Slim
Age he made first million: 25
Age he made first billion: 51
Years in between: 26
Age he made first million: 27
Age he made first billion: 48
Years in between: 21
Age he made first million: 31
Age he made first billion: 52
Years in between: 21
Amancio Ortega
Age he made first million: 49
Age he made first billion: 65
Years in between: 16
Robson Walton
Age he made first million: 34
Age he made first billion: 48
Years in between: 14
Li-Ka Shing
Age he made first million: 30
Age he made first billion: 43
Years in between: 13
Age he made first million: 34
Age he made first billion: 44
Years in between: 10
Age he made first million: 39
Age he made first billion: 49
Years in between: 10
Age he made first million: 35
Age he made first billion: 45
Years in between: 10
Age he made first million: 30
Age he made first billion: 38
Years in between: 8
Age he made first million: 42
Age he made first billion: 49
Years in between: 7
Larry Page
Age he made first million: 25
Age he made first billion: 30
Years in between: 5
Sergey Brin
Age he made first million: 26
Age he made first billion: 31
Years in between: 5
Bill Gates
Age he made first million: 26
Age he made first billion: 31
Years in between: 5
Age she made first million: 39
Age she made first billion: 43
Years in between: 4
Age he made first million: 33
Age he made first billion: 36
Years in between: 3
Age he made first million: 31
Age he made first billion: 53
Years in between: 22
Jeff Bezos
Age he made first million: 33
Age he made first billion: 35
Years in between: 2
Mark Zuckerberg
Age he made first million: 22
Age he made first billion: 23
Years in between: 1
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