The youngest Asian billionaire is 28 years old

Kylie Jenner, Evan Spiegel and Mark Zuckerberg are known to be among the youngest billionaires in the world. But what about their counterparts in Asia? Read on for the youngest Asian scions and self-made entrepreneurs to know, based on Forbes' 2020 World’s Billionaires List

1. Jonathan Kwok, 28

Net worth $2B

The younger son of late property tycoon Walter Kwok, Jonathan Kwok is a director at Empire Group Holdings, overseeing the group’s real estate investments, project developments, and asset management operations. The property developer was founded by Walter Kwok after he was ousted as chairman of Hong Kong’s largest developer, Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP).

The former chairman retained his stakes in SHKP however, which was inherited by Jonathan and his brother Geoffrey. The brothers are also named beneficiaries of one-third of five family trusts held by their grandmother Kwong Siu-hing, the widow of SHKP co-founder Kwok Tak-seng.

2. Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, 34

Tatler Asia
Above Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha (Image: Generation T)

Net worth $3.7B

Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha is the chairman and CEO of King Power, Thailand’s leading operator of airport duty-free outlets. He inherited it from his father, the late Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha. On top of that, Aiyawatt and his family also own King Power MahaNakhon—the second tallest building in Thailand—as well as English football club Leicester City, which Aiyawatt chairs. He shares his fortune with his mother and three siblings.

3. Jihan Wu, 34

Tatler Asia
Above Jihan Wu (Image: Bitmain Technologies)

Net worth $1.8B

Self-made billionaire Jihan Wu is the co-founder and chairman of Bitmain Technologies, China's largest cryptocurrency mining-chip company. The mining-chip giant specialises in selling ASIC-chip miners.

While the company was plagued with reports of a market share decline and massive layoffs in 2019, it appears to be picking up steam, announcing internally that it had made a profit of over US$300 million in the first quarter of 2020. Employees were reported to be rewarded with individual bonuses of up to 70,000 yuan (about US$9,860.54). However, it won’t be smooth-sailing just yet, as the company has been receiving complaints about the high failure rate of its Bitmain S17/T17 Antminer rig. This is on top of the on-going power struggle between Jihan and his co-founder and former co-CEO Micree Zhan, who are in a legal battle to seize control of the company.

See also: The 10 Richest Women In The World In 2020

4. Christopher Kwok, 34

Tatler Asia
Above From left: Raymond Kwok and his wife; Rachel Kwok; Christopher Kwok (Image: Tatler Hong Kong)

Net worth $1.5B

Christopher Kwok is the younger son of Raymond Kwok, chairman and managing director of SHKP. He has served as an executive director at SHKP since 2016, overseeing sales, project management and the leasing of major projects at the firm. Christopher is also a member of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a political advisory body in China.

5. Geoffrey Kwok, 35

Net worth $2.5B

The elder son of the late Walter Kwok and the older brother of Jonathan Kwok, Geoffrey joined Empire Group as a director with his brother in October 2018, after their father’s passing. He was previously an investment banker with Morgan Stanley in New York and Hong Kong.

Like his brother, Geoffrey also inherited Walter’s direct stake and joined the SHKP board as a non-executive director. He now manages SHKP’s hotel division, focusing on developing its hotel business in Hong Kong and China.

Other young billionaires in Asia…

Zhang Yiming, 36, chairman of Beijing ByteDance
Net worth $16.2B

Adam Kwok, 37, executive director of Sun Hung Kai Properties
Net worth $2.1B

Bill Liu, 37, chairman and CEO of Royole Corp
Net worth $1.7B

Cheng Wei, 37, CEO of Didi Chuxing
Net worth $1.2B

Binny Bansal, 37, co-founder of Flipkart
Net worth $1.1B

See also: The New Asia: The Most Powerful, Influential and Stylish People to Know in 2020

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