Reported by Pete Syme

The Forbes 30 Under 30 lists celebrate the achievements of young people making a mark in a range of sectors. Unfortunately, quite a few of the picks are now a little questionable, to say the least.

It’s even become something of a meme, with users on X joking about federal authorities investigating those on the list.

Announcing this year’s lists on Tuesday, Forbes acknowledged there were some picks “we wish we could take back.”

Its “Hall of Shame” starts — appropriately enough — with Sam Bankman-Fried, the FTX cofounder who was on the 30 Under 30 finance list in 2021.

Forbes had estimated the then-29-year-old’s net worth at more than $26 billion — only Mark Zuckerberg had made as much money that young. That was until a CoinDesk report last year showed how FTX had overly close ties with its sister trading firm, Alameda.

Days later, FTX filed for bankruptcy. Prosecutors said that Bankman-Fried and other executives had used customer funds for luxuries and property. Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy earlier this month.

The former co-CEO of Alameda, Caroline Ellison, testified against him after pleading guilty to seven offenses. She was on the Forbes finance class in 2022 — and is also in the Hall of Shame.

Martin Shkreli, aka the “pharma bro,” appeared on a 30 Under 30 list in 2013 — and reappears a decade later in the Forbes Hall of Shame. He achieved notoriety after hiking the price of a medication used to treat parasitic infections from $17.50 to $750.

In an unrelated case, he served four years in prison for misrepresenting financials and attempting to manipulate a stock.

Read full report: https://www.businessinsider.com/forbes-hall-shame-30-under-30-lists-regrets-sbf-ftx-2023-11?amp