# Forbes 30 Under 30

Forbes 30 Under 30 is a set of lists published annually by Forbes magazine consisting of 30 notable people under 30 years old in various industries. The American list consists of 600 people, with 30 selected in 20 industries each. The Asia and Europe lists each have ten categories for a total of 300 people each, while Africa has a single list of 30 people. Forbes hosts associated conferences and a section of its website called 30 Under 30. The nomination process for Forbes 30 Under 30 is open to the public, and people may nominate themselves or another as long as the nominee is under 30 years of age.
The final 30 under 30 list published by Forbes is divided into different categories of industries: Art & Style, Hollywood & Entertainment, Retail & ECommerce, Healthcare, Consumer Technology, Sports, Marketing and Advertising, Energy, Science, Media, Music, Social Media, Manufacturing & Industry, Social Impact, Finance, Venture Capital, Food & Drink, Education, Enterprise Technology, and Games.
According to Forbes, the 30 honorees under the age of 30 in each industry list are scouted and selected by the editors of Forbes, independent judges, celebrity judges, and industry experts.

## History

Forbes launched its 30 Under 30 list in 2011 under the direction of Randall Lane. By 2016, the nominations for the list had reached more than 15.000, with Forbes editors selecting 30 winners for each of 20 categories.
By the 10th anniversary, as of 2022, Forbes revealed that they have received over 100.000 nominations for the Forbes 30 under 30 list. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Forbes 30 under 30, Forbes created the "Forbes 30 under 30 Hall of Fame" and picked "30 all-time all-stars" from the Forbes 30 under 30 honorees over the years, which included Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, LeBron James, Snapchat founder Evan Spiegel, tennis player Naomi Osaka, Spotify founder Daniel Ek and TikTok's parent company founder Zhang Yiming.
Over time, Forbes has expanded the feature to establish continental lists for Asia, Europe (launched in 2016), and Africa.
Forbes also uses the Under 30 name for a dedicated channel on its website, associated with a 30 Under 30 social media app. The Washington Post reports the channel is an attempt to reach millennials. The social media app is a collaboration with previous 30 Under 30 honoree Sean Rad, the co-founder and president of Tinder.

## Conferences

In addition to the magazine feature, Forbes hosts an annual 30 Under 30 Summit. In 2014 and 2015, the summit was held in Philadelphia, with Monica Lewinsky making headlines at the first summit for her address on cyberbullying. The 2016 and 2017 summits were both held in October in Boston. Organizers include previous 30 Under 30 honorees chef Chris Coombs, Boston mayoral aide Dan Koh, and pediatric oncology professor Cigall Kadoch.
In April 2016, Forbes held its first 30 Under 30 international summit, focused on Europe, the Middle East and Africa and taking place in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Speakers included Monica Lewinsky, Shimon Peres and Okieriete Onaodowan. Onaodowan was a 2016 honoree on the 30 Under 30 Hollywood & Entertainment list for his portrayal of Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in Hamilton.
Botswana was the first African country to host Forbes 30 Under 30 in April 2022.

## Criticism
### Demographics of honorees

The 30 Under 30 list has drawn criticism for under-recognition of young racial minorities and women. The Root observed that 29 of 30 journalists honored on the inaugural Media category list in 2011 were white, and none were of African descent or Latino. Elle South Africa noted the gender imbalance of the 2014 lists, asking, "Where are the women?" Demographics of the Forbes selections have continued to draw interest; Poynter reported the 2015 Media list had 18 women, the most in the list's five-year history.

### Methodology

Some journalists and analysts have voiced criticism over the methodology of the selection process of the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, especially in the Finance category. This is due to some honorees in the Finance category and some in other categories having been charged or convicted of various financial misconduct and offenses, such as Sam Bankman-Fried, Charlie Javice, Caroline Ellison, Martin Shkreli, Cody Wilson, Nate Paul and Do Kwon. Over the years, due to those few members having ended up in trouble, some critics penned opinion pieces in other media outlets referring to a "curse" of some of those individuals who went from fame to infamy. In 2023, Forbes humorously published a "Hall of Shame" article on some of their retrospectively bad picks.