America's Richest Self-Made Entrepreneurs In Their 20s

Here comes young and younger. Six of the 40 richest self-made entrepreneurs in the U.S. under age 40 still have yet to even turn 30.  At a time when most people are just finishing their degrees or beginning their ascent up the corporate ladders, these wunderkinds, all of whom made their fortunes in Silicon Valley, have helped turn innovative ideas into nine and ten figure fortunes before they have reached their third decade.

The youngest of them all is Palmer Luckey, a video games aficionado who just turned 23 a couple of months ago. The founder of virtual reality equipment maker Oculus started his venture in his parents’ garage as a teenager, buying old virtual reality headsets off of eBay EBAY +3.45% for cheap. Before long, the self-proclaimed sci-fi nerd started tinkering with them, building his own versions from the old parts.

To cover the costs of making the prototypes, Luckey turned to Kickstarter, launching one of the most successful campaigns ever seen on the crowdfunding site. He raised $250,000 in less than two hours, and $2.4 million within a month. Venture capital soon followed and in July 2014, Facebook FB +0.93% acquired Oculus in a $2.3 billion cash-and-stock deal, just two years after Oculus’ founding, and two months shy of Luckey’s 22nd birthday.  With Facebook’s skyrocketing share price, Luckey now has an estimated net worth of $700 million.

The boy genius, who co-founded game console modification community ModRetro with Oculus co-worker Chris Dycus, is simply titled founder at the company. “I have my hands in everything, from product engineering to game development to marketing,” he explained. “I am no longer the absolute best person working on any particular project — it is important to never be afraid of hiring people who are better than you.”  Oculus, which was still developing prototypes at the time of the acquisition, will release its first headset for consumers in early 2016.       

Photo Caption: Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Oculus VR Inc. and creator of the Oculus Rift, speaks during the Oculus VR Inc. “Step Into The Rift” event in San Francisco, California, U.S. (Photo: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg)