Billionaire Gen Zer dropped out of high school to launch his start-up at 17—now he’s the richest self-made 25-year-old in the U.K and all of Europe

One Gen Z high school dropout with two tech businesses to his name has just become Europe’s youngest self-made billionaire following a breakout investing round—before even turning 30. James Dacombe, the 25-year-old serial entrepreneur behind AI chip-making firm Olix and brain monitoring startup CoMind, just hit a personal net worth of over $1 billion. 

Dacombe launched his London-based firm Olix just two years ago, which tripled in value since February and raised $312 million from investors earlier this month, boosting the company’s market cap to $3.3 billion. It also pushed the bank account of Dacombe, who owns an estimated 30% stake in the company, over the billion-dollar threshold. 

Meanwhile, Dacombe also owns a 12% stake in CoMind—a company he created in 2017, and still leads—raised $102.5 million in August last year, which contributes to his eye-watering net worth. 

The British Gen Z founder is just one of 11 self-made billionaires in the world under 30 years old, and one of four who don’t live in the U.S. 

How James Dacombe became a billionaire

Dacombe was destined to build. He began programming apps and websites at just 13 years old, attending private school Ashville College in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, before taking his A levels in physics, math, economics, and business. But the then-teenager knew the academic life wasn’t for him.

So at 17 years old,........

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