In this piece, we will discuss the 12 Youngest Hedge Fund Billionaires and Their Top Stock Picks.
According to a January 19, 2026, Reuters report, billionaire wealth hit record highs in 2025, widening the divide between the ultra-rich and the rest of the world.
A study conducted by Oxfam in conjunction with the World Economic Forum in Davos reports that the wealth of billionaires worldwide increased by 16% last year to $18.3 trillion, an 81% increase since 2020. With almost half of the world’s population living in poverty and one in four people finding it difficult to get regular meals, this growth coincided with heightened global inequality.
The report attributed the gains to policies under U.S. President Donald Trump, tax cuts, and a loosening of scrutiny of monopolies. It also shed light on the disproportionate political influence of the wealthy, who are 4,000 times more likely than average citizens to hold office. As billionaires increasingly consolidated control over major media outlets, investors like Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, who became the first person to surpass $500 billion in net worth, saw their returns further boosted by the skyrocketing valuations of artificial intelligence.
In this context of concentrated wealth, the youngest billionaire investors are actively influencing stock market dynamics.
As of February 3, 2026, Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel LLC and one of these billionaires, noted that although fiscal and AI-driven factors remain key market drivers, investors are adjusting their expectations amid weak U.S. dollar momentum and broader market uncertainty.
Knowing the stocks selected by these individuals provides insight into how some of the youngest billionaires in the world are navigating one of the most volatile financial landscapes in recent memory.
Thus, we will now jump to our list of the 12 youngest hedge fund billionaires and their top stock picks.
Our Methodology
To curate our list of 12 youngest hedge fund billionaires and their top stock picks, we first conducted extensive online research to identify billionaires who either own or actively manage hedge funds. We then ranked these individuals in descending order by age as of February 9, 2026, based on Forbes’s age estimates.
Next, we picked each billionaire’s top picks using their most recent Form 13-F filings (as of Q3 2025). To ensure that each stock on our list is unique, we avoided duplicative holdings across hedge fund managers. In cases where a billionaire’s top pick overlapped with a stock already covered, we selected the next top unique pick from that manager’s portfolio. The overlapping stocks are listed under the billionaire who holds the largest reported stake in the respective security. Where applicable, we have provided details by specifying the billionaire’s actual top holding, even if it was not the stock featured within that billionaire’s analysis.
The final list is presented in descending order of age. In this way, this list explores both the youngest hedge fund billionaires and a diversified selection of stock picks favored by this group. We have also listed the total number of hedge funds bullish on each stock as of Q3 2025, based on Insider Monkey’s hedge fund database, which tracks 978 hedge funds.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 427.7% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 264 percentage points (see more details here).
12. Clifford Asness (AQR Capital Management)
Billionaire’s Age: 59
Top Pick: NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 183
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is Clifford Asness’ largest holding, accounting for 2.62% ($4.09 billion) of the billionaire’s total portfolio.
As of February 13, 2026, more than 90% of analysts covering NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) are bullish. The consensus price target of $250.00 implies upside potential exceeding 36%. Analysts expect the company to report revenue above its guidance, with UBS projecting the fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $67.5 billion, roughly $2.5 billion above guidance.
In the first quarter of next year, the firm expects NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) to generate $76 billion, while broader expectations are set at $74 to $75 billion. At the same time, the firm says it expects the company to remove China from its guidance as the country shifts its focus to domestically produced GPUs.
Similar to UBS, Goldman Sachs analysts also expect the upcoming results to reflect a beat-and-raise quarter, primarily driven by industry supply-and-demand indicators. NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) is expected to report results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2026 on February 25.
Meanwhile, NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) shares rose 7.9% as a result of CEO Jensen Huang’s remarks on February 6, 2026, when he described AI capital spending as “appropriate” within a seven- to eight-year buildout. Huang highlighted indicators that support sustained demand for Nvidia’s next-generation systems despite growing networking rivalry, including “sky-high” demand, rising resale prices for older GPUs, and ongoing compute constraints at AI leaders like OpenAI.
NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) creates GPUs and compute-networking platforms that power gaming, data centers, AI, and autonomous systems. It combines accelerated computing, high-performance networking, and software to enable large-scale artificial intelligence workloads.
11. Philippe Laffont (Coatue Management)
Billionaire’s Age: 58
Top Pick: Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 273
Accounting for 7.27% share ($2.96 billion) in the billionaire’s portfolio, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) ranks as Philippe Laffont’s top stock pick.
TheFly reported on February 10, 2026, that Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is working on an internal prototype for a stand-alone application called “Instants,” which is designed to send disappearing photos, according to Business Insider.
Reverse-engineering expert and mobile developer Alessandro Paluzzi’s screenshots of the project showed Meta’s ongoing efforts to experiment with fleeting, camera-first social experiences outside of Instagram. Investors view Instants as a reflection of Meta’s approach to developing lightweight, engagement-driven products that could become stand-alone growth engines or be reintegrated into its Family of Apps, thereby helping protect user attention from competitors such as Snapchat while increasing content creation and sharing frequency.
This product innovation coincides with Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)’s ongoing efforts to tackle European regulatory challenges.
On February 10, 2026, Reuters revealed that the EU’s top court had extended a five-year legal battle by sending WhatsApp’s challenge to a $268 million GDPR fine back to a lower tribunal. The decision provides Meta procedural relief and may have an impact on the course of more general EU privacy enforcement cases, even though it does not completely remove possible penalties.
Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) develops social media and communication applications, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The company generates revenue primarily from advertising and investing in emerging technologies through its Reality Labs division.
10. Ken Griffin (Citadel LLC)
Billionaire’s Age: 57
Top Pick: Visa Inc. (NYSE:V)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 166
While Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) remains the billionaire’s largest position, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) ranks 5th on the list of Ken Griffin’s top holdings with a 0.16% portfolio share ($1.04 billion).
On February 5, 2026, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) introduced Visa & Main, a new platform with a U.S. focus that aims to strengthen small business growth by addressing enduring barriers related to digital adoption, customer reach, and capital access.
Targeting undercapitalized entrepreneurs at a time when 43% of small businesses report financing challenges, the initiative’s centerpiece is a $100 million working capital facility that was introduced in partnership with community lender Lendistry. The platform supports Visa’s plan to increase acceptance, transaction volumes, and long-term network stickiness by strengthening engagement throughout the merchant ecosystem.
In addition to providing funding, Visa & Main combines digital tools and marketing assistance to help small businesses profit from high-traffic events, such as the FIFA World Cup 2026, for which Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is the official payment technology partner. Furthermore, the program encourages wider use of fraud prevention, digital payments, and expense management tools, all of which have the potential to increase usage throughout Visa’s network. Altogether, Visa & Main remains strongly positioned to support long-term payment flows throughout economic cycles and helps small businesses grow.
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) offers global digital payment services, facilitating secure transactions between consumers, merchants, and institutions via its extensive network of cards and payment solutions that support global commerce and money movement.
Note: MSFT is Citadel LLC’s top holding, accounting for 0.31% share of the firm’s total portfolio, equivalent to $2.06 billion.
