Under 30 Rogues' Gallery: Charlie Javice, Sam Bankman-Fried, Martin Shkreli
photo by Bing Guan/Bloomberg; Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency/ Getty Images; Pete Marovich/BloombergMany Under 30 alumni have gone on to become tech titans, CEOs, and even billionaires. A few have turned out to be duds, or far worse. Below, from SBF to Martin Shkreli: the Under 30 picks we wish we could take back.
For the last 13 years, Forbes has published our 30 Under 30 List, which in the U.S., now has 20 different categories, or 600 total, each year. Add in the alumni from our Europe and Asia lists, we’ve honored more than 10,000 wunderkinds––and vetted some 100,000 candidates.
An astounding number of these folks have gone on to become cultural tastemakers, tech titans, even billionaires––32 of the latter, and counting.
But regrets, we’ve had a few. While our process correctly weeded out folks like Fyre Festival impresario Billy McFarland and, yes, even Elizabeth Holmes––one-time superstars who all wound up fraudsters––others slipped through. Below are 10, out of 10,000, that we’d like to walk back. We’ll add more here as the years go on––the 30 Under 30 list is, by definition, future-facing, and not even Warren Buffett can predict with 100 percent accuracy. But we’d guess he’d be good with 99.9%.
Sam Bankman-Fried
Founder, FTX | Under 30 Finance, Class of 2021
Former billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried (center) arrives at Manhattan Federal Court in March, 2023.
Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesIn early 2022, investors valued Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its U.S. operations at $40 billion. Less than two years later, SBF was convicted of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. Among the crimes, he was accused of moving billions of dollars in FTX customer assets to its sister firm Alameda Research to fund losses, political donations, and other investments. The man we once estimated was worth more than $26 billion now faces up to 110 years in prison. He is set to be sentenced in March.
Caroline Ellison
Co-CEO, Alameda Research | Under 30 Finance, Class of 2022
Caroline Ellision, former head of FTX’s crypto trading arm Alameda research, leaves federal court after testifying in March, 2023.
photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty ImagesAnother FTX casualty. Caroline Ellison was Bankman-Fried’s sometimes girlfriend, who ran his Alameda Research crypto trading operation. In December 2022, Ellison, a once lauded math whiz, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy for moving billions from FTX customers to cover losses at Alameda. This fall, Ellison became a federal witness in the FTX fraud trial, giving damning testimony against Bankman-Fried. For her part in the scheme, she also faces a maximum 110-year sentence, but will likely get a lighter punishment thanks to her cooperation.
Charlie Javice
Founder, Frank | Under 30 Finance, Class of 2019
Charlie Javice (center) appears in New York Federal Court to face fraud charges in August 2023.
photo by by John Minchillo/APBy 2019, Charlie Javice had raised roughly $16 million for Frank, her startup that promised to help college students get financial aid. In 2021, she sold the start-up—which she said at the time had 4.25 million users—to JPMorgan Chase for $175 million. The hitch? Javice didn’t have close to that number of customers she claimed. She has since been indicted on fraud and conspiracy counts for misrepresenting the company’s scale. Her trial is set to start in October. Javice has disputed the allegations and pleaded not guilty.
Tim Pannell fort Forbes
Nate Paul
Founder, World Class Capital Group | Under 30 Finance, Class of 2016
Nate Paul built a real estate empire that in 2017 was valued around $1 billion, mostly shopping centers and office buildings through his Texas-based World Class Capital Group. But in June 2023, Paul was charged with eight counts for lying to lenders and later indicted on four additional counts of fraud and conspiracy. He pleaded not guilty to all the charges. His trial is scheduled for July.
Martin Shkreli
Founder, MSMB Capital | Under 30 Finance, Class of 2013
Martin Skhreil appearing before Congress during an oversight hearing on drug prices in February 2016.
photo by Pete Marovich/BloombergShkreli was once hailed as a business wunderkind, launching two pharma-focused hedge funds while in his 20s. Next came two drug companies, Retrophin and Turing. Two years after appearing on the Under 30, the “pharma bro” became the “most hated man in America” for jacking up the price of Turing-owned Daraprim, a vital medication used to treat parasitic infections, from $17.50 a tablet to $750. He was hauled before Congress but took the fifth and refused to testify. The FTC eventually sued, won and fined Shkreli for $65 million. He received a life-long ban from the pharmaceutical industry too. But by then, Shkreli had already been to prison for misrepresenting his two hedge funds’ financials and attempting to manipulate Retrophin stock. He was released early from federal prison in May 2022 after serving four years.
Michael Thad Carter for Forbes
Cody Wilson
Founder, Defense Distributed | Under 30 Law & Policy, Class of 2014
While a student at the University of Texas’ law school, Cody Wilson became famous for posting blueprints on the Internet that allowed anyone to 3-D print a working gun. The stunt ignited an ongoing “ghost gun” legal firestorm, drawing into the battle both the 1st and the 2nd amendments. But it’s not the gun controversy that landed him on the rogues list. In 2019, Wilson pled guilty to Injury to a Child after he was arrested for paying $500 to have sex with a 16-year-old girl he met on a website called Sugardaddymeet.com. He was required to register as a sex offender.
photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
James O'Keefe
Founder, Project Veritas | Under 30 Media, Class of 2012
James O’Keefe ran conservative media company Project Veritas for thirteen years before being ousted from his position as the organization’s chairman and CEO this February. He got the boot after complaints from staffers and board members about his leadership style and misuse of donor funds on splurges including a flight on a private plane. In March, he launched a new media company: O’Keefe Media Group. As of August, O’Keefe is back under investigation by the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. The DA has not publicly stated why. O’Keefe’s lawyers did not return Forbes’ request for comment.
photo by Stuart C. Wilson/The W/Getty Images
Phadria Prendergast
Editor-in-Chief, Women Of The City Magazine | Under 30 Europe, Media & Marketing, Class of 2023
Don’t judge a magazine by its cover either. In 2018, Phadria Prendergast launched her glossy WOTC to spotlight upcoming entertainment and business stars. Turned out she was allegedly running a pay-to-play operation where cash bought coverage. Making matters worse, Prendergast sometimes didn’t hold up her end of the deal. A Forbes investigation found eleven former customers have claimed she ran off with roughly $195,000 of their money. Where did the money go? Forbes found financial connections to a Salvation Proclaimers Anointed Church, or SPAC Nation. The controversial church that has been accused by former members of being a religious cult. Both Prendergast and the former WOTC CEO denied that WOTC transferred funds to SPAC Nation. SPAC Nation denies the cult claims.
Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan/Getty Images
Steph Korey
Cofounder, Away | Under 30 Retail & Ecommerce, Class of 2016
In 2018, Steph Korey was the jet-set cofounder and CEO of hip luggage brand Away. Forbes put her on the cover of our 2018 Under 30 issue. Then in 2019, The Verge published a critical article highlighting several employees’ accounts of her bullying coworkers and enforcing a grueling workload. In the aftermath, Korey surprised the tech world by resigning that December. A month later, she returned, this time as co-CEO with former Lululemon exec Stuart Haselden. Later, in July 2020, Korey published social media posts highly critical of the media industry. The posts drew wide criticism and reportedly rankled Away staffers. Shortly after, Away announced Korey would again resign as CEO by the start of 2021.
Jamel Toppin for Forbes
Lucas Duplan
Founder, Clinkle | Under 30 Finance, Class of 2014
In 2014, Lucas Duplan looked like a fintech pioneer. His mobile payments start-up, Clinkle, had raised an impressive $30 million seed round from A-list investors including Richard Branson, Peter Thiel, and Andreessen Horowitz. With the hypey plan to make paper money obsolete, Duplan made dozens of new hires, attracted big-name tech veterans, and rented a pricey office in the heart of San Francisco. Despite the large raise and top investors, Clinkle never produced a viable product. Shortly after its massive fundraise, Duplan was making massive layoffs. Top talent bailed. Investors demanded their money back. By 2015, only some 30 employees remained, down from the 70 at its peak. Meanwhile, Venmo and Apple Pay launched rival products. By the end of 2015, the money and Clinkle were spent.
