We all know that life’s a lottery, but have you ever considered that some of us may have a higher likelihood of success based on our demographic data than others? Although it takes plenty of hard work and a dash of luck to make it big in industries like film, music and social media, we wanted to know whether those that are deemed successful share anything in common – and if so, whether this meant they were always destined to do well.

We ran the stats in the Self-Made Celebs study – based on the past five years’ of Forbes 30 Under 30 lists – to see what the world’s ideal entrepreneur looks like when it comes to gender, location, education, ethnicity, nationality, birth month and age. We also wanted to see which of the world’s youngest high-earners bear the closest similarity to the ideal entrepreneur, to judge who was likely to make it big despite their lucky break, and who beat the odds…

The World’s Ideal Entrepreneur

So what does the world’s ideal entrepreneur look like, according to those featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 lists over the last five years? The data showed that the majority of entrepreneurs were white males aged 24-30 who were born and raised in California, and interestingly, weren’t university educated.

As most featured across Hollywood & Entertainment, Music, Social Media and Sports categories were male, the data does suggest a slight gender disparity, but recent lists have proved more progressive than those from 2017, 2018 and 2019. In fact, the most recent 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 list features more women than men for the first time, while last year’s showed an equal 50/50 split.

Celebrity Odds of Success

Now that we know what the ideal entrepreneur looks like – which of the world’s highest earners aged under 30 held the highest likelihood of success? Of the featured top-earners, the study found it was multi award-winning songwriter Billie Eilish who bore the most similarity to the ideal entrepreneur, with her background placing her as an impressive 95% match.

Other celebrities who may have made it big regardless of their lucky breaks – whether it’s being part of a famous family or being discovered online – included Kylie and Kendall Jenner, as well as singers Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber.

Ariana Grande has received two Grammy Awards, one Brit Award, two Billboard Music Awards, three American Music Awards, nine MTV Video Music Awards, and 22 Guinness World Records.

And at the other end of the scale, it’s Brazilian footballer Neymar who beat the odds to become a high-earner, as he bore just a 48% similarity to the ideal entrepreneur. Other celebs who achieved success despite their backgrounds included actress Letitia Wright and footballer Kylian Mbappe.

The Luckiest UK Region

But it’s not just established celebrities who we want to know about – what about the everyday Brit? We took the findings from the 30 Under 30 data and applied it to UK regional demographics to see where bore the highest resemblance to the ideal entrepreneur – and therefore may boast higher odds of success.

The study found that it was London that came out on top when it came to gender, age, birth month and ethnicity data, as the region bears an 81.4% similarity to the ideal entrepreneur. Other regions that may have higher odds of success include the South East, North West and the West Midlands. Meanwhile, those in the North East may have to work slightly harder to make it big, as the region bears a far lower 22.6% similarity.

Whether you aspire to become a top-earning entrepreneur or you’d just like to see where life takes you, there are plenty of little gambles you can take along the way that may increase your odds of success.

Aviva

Aviva is the Content Manager at PlayOJO and writes blogs, copy and all things OJOey. A copy/content marketer for over 7 years, she gets her creative juices flowing by singing, dancing (around her living room), and belly laughing regularly.