14 Billionaires Who Are New to the Forbes 400 List in 2025: How They Got Rich
Written by
Jamie Stone
Edited by
Jenna Klaverweiden
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The barrier to entry for America’s most exclusive club just got significantly higher. According to Forbes, it now takes a record-breaking $3.8 billion net worth to make the Forbes 400 list in 2025, up $500 million from last year.
Despite this steep threshold, 14 billionaires managed to join the ranks for the first time this year, collectively worth $113.3 billion.
Also see how the world’s nine richest billionaires spent their first $1 million.
The Richest Newcomers
The wealthiest newcomer is Edwin Chen, worth an estimated $18 billion. The 37-year-old founded data labeling company Surge AI in 2020 and grew it to over $1 billion in annual revenue in just five years without outside investors, per Forbes. Chen also made Time’s list of the 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence (AI) in 2025.
Close behind is Adam Foroughi at $17.4 billion. The AppLovin co-founder and CEO retained nearly all of his 11% stake since the company’s 2021 initial public offering (IPO), watching his fortune grow by more than $14 billion over the past year as his company’s market cap soared past $160 billion.
Energy and Food Fortunes
Liquified natural gas exporters Robert Pender, 72, and Michael Sabel, 58, are tied as the third-wealthiest newcomers at $12.8 billion each. The Venture Global co-founders took their company public in January at a valuation of almost $60 billion, which made it one of the biggest IPOs in energy, according to Forbes. Pender previously worked in law for nearly three decades, while Sabel worked in the energy, technology and financial services sectors, according to their company’s website.
Dutch Bros Coffee executive chairman Travis Boersma joined the list with a $4.3 billion fortune. The chain, which started when Boersma and his late brother sold coffee from a cart in 1992, now operates over 1,000 locations across 19 states, per Forbes. According to The Oregonian, Boersma became a billionaire after the company’s IPO and is the largest stockholder of the company.
Tech Dominates
Many of the 14 newcomers made their fortunes in technology. Robinhood co-founder Vlad Tenev’s $5.8 billion fortune has grown fivefold since last year’s Forbes list. The outlet reported that the company’s cryptocurrency revenue jumped from $135 million in 2023 to $626 million in 2024. According to Investor’s Business Daily, Tenev is different from many leaders in the space, making leadership changes few founders make.
CoreWeave’s March IPO created two Forbes 400 newcomers: co-founder and CEO Michael Intrator ($6.7 billion) and fellow co-founder Brian Venturo ($4.2 billion). The cloud computing company signed deals worth nearly $16 billion altogether with OpenAI during the first half of 2025, per Forbes.
Advertising technology company AppLovin also yielded other newcomers, with co-founder Andrew Karam making the list with a $4.7 billion net worth and Eduardo Vivas, an early investor in the company, rounding out the list at a $3.8 billion net worth.
Lastly, Stephen Cohen, who co-founded Palantir, made the list with a net worth $5.4 billion amid Palantir’s success in the technology and software space.
Beyond Tech
The remaining newcomers span diverse industries. Marc Lore, an entrepreneur who sold Jet.com to Walmart for $3.3 billion, is now worth $4 billion, thanks partly to his majority stake in the NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves.
Cancer diagnostics pioneer David Dean Halbert owns approximately 44% of Caris Life Sciences, which was valued at $5.9 billion during its June IPO. He is now worth $4.9 billion.
Michael Dorrell ranked near the top of the newcomers list with a net worth of $8.5 billion. He is the chairman and CEO of Stonepeak, an investing firm.
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