When the co-founder of Dropbox, Drew Houston, was named on Forbes’ inaugural 30 Under 30 list in 2012, he said: “It felt like getting drafted into the big leagues. Being on 30 Under 30 helped raise Dropbox’s visibility.”
Today, Houston is still CEO of Dropbox, which went public in 2018 and boasts a market cap close to $12 billion. Like many others, his career was spotlighted early on this influential list.
In 2012, Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom also made the cut when Instagram was just 14 months old with seven employees. Alongside him were Pinterest’s Ben Silbermann and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg – names now synonymous with the digital age.
Randall Lane, Forbes’ chief content officer and the creator of the 30 Under 30 franchise explained that the list is one that is right for our times. Because today, in many fields, being young is an advantage.
In the past, building something remarkable required a lot of experience, resources and mentorship. But over the past two decades, digital natives – those born with this technology in hand – have a natural advantage in disrupting industries.
Many technologies that have transformed our lives in the last decade were started by the Under 30 alumni. Spotify’s Daniel Ek, Bumble’s Whitney Wolfe Herd, Stripe’s Patrick Collison, and our homegrown success stories Canva’s Mel Perkins and Afterpay’s Nick Molnar are all part of this community.
Since its inception 14 years ago, the Forbes 30 Under 30 list has championed over 10,000 disrupters from more than 50 countries. And it has become a powerful global community of super-achievers who aren’t just making waves – they’re reshaping the future.
And now, it’s on home soil.
WELCOME to Forbes Australia’s inaugural 30 Under 30 issue.
In eight categories – from technology and sport to Hollywood and social entrepreneurship – list editor Anastasia Santoreneos worked tirelessly with expert judges to sift through hundreds of nominations and highlight the brightest minds and stars under 30. What these individuals share is unrelenting ambition and an undeniable drive to leave their mark.
Take Annie Liao, 22, whose vision is to democratise AI education with her start-up Build Club – or 24-year-old mechatronics engineer Grace Brown, who is building robots to tackle loneliness and aims to grow her company, Andromeda Robotics, into a billion-dollar company.
Tech-whiz Sam Crowther, who is behind Kasada, a platform that raised $39 million to help organisations fight bots, says he’s just finding his groove.
In sport, 23-year-old Oscar Piastri is one of the hottest drivers on the F1 grid. And 21-year-old Matilda’s standout Mary Fowler, double-gold Paris Olympian Jess Fox, and swimming legend Ariarne Titmus are breaking records and exemplifying determination and focus.
Then there’s Steph Claire Smith, who, alongside her business partner Laura Henshaw, has built a multi-million dollar fitness empire. Dave Fogarty’s Oodie creation has led him to become one of the country’s greatest e-commerce stories.
Chanel Contos, whose Instagram story in 2021 led to $3.5 million in grant funding and a 10-strong team that aims to reduce violence against women and children, shows that today’s disruptors are influencing society at every level.
People are always intrigued by what’s next and who’s leading the charge. The list is the embodiment of that.
So, dive into our 30 Under 30 list today for a peek into the future. A huge congratulations to everyone who made the list – you deserve it.
SARAH O’CARROLL
Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Australia
