Europe’s youngest self-made billionaire: James Dacombe dropped out of high school at 17 to build his startup and now his wealth has crossed the $1 billion mark at 25

James Dacombe has gone from a teenage school dropout to one of the youngest billionaires in the world, after a funding round for his artificial intelligence chip company pushed his personal fortune past the $1 billion mark, reports The Fortune.

At just 25, the British entrepreneur is now being recognized as Europe’s youngest self-made billionaire, adding another remarkable chapter to the rise of young tech founders building fortunes through artificial intelligence.

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James Dacombe’s fortune crosses $1 billion

Dacombe is the founder of two technology companies: Olix, an AI chip-making startup based in London, and CoMind, a brain-monitoring technology company he launched in 2017. Olix has been the biggest driver behind his recent wealth surge. The company, founded only two years ago, has reportedly tripled in value since February. Earlier this month, Olix raised $312 million from investors, taking its valuation to approximately $3.3 billion.

Dacombe owns an estimated 30% stake in Olix, meaning the latest funding round pushed the value of his holding above the billion-dollar threshold.

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His wealth is also supported by his stake in CoMind. Dacombe reportedly owns around 12% of the company, which raised $102.5 million in August last year. He continues to lead the business. Together, the two companies have transformed the fortunes of the 25-year-old entrepreneur.

He dropped out of high school at 17

Dacombe’s journey into technology began long before he became a billionaire. He started programming apps and websites when he was just 13 years old. He attended Ashville College in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, and studied physics, mathematics, economics and business for his A levels.

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But traditional education was not where he saw his future. At 17, Dacombe dropped out of high school to focus on building CoMind and scaling the business. His decision eventually led him toward the Thiel Fellowship, a highly competitive program founded by Palantir cofounder Peter Thiel that provides young entrepreneurs with $250,000 to pursue their companies rather than attend college.

The fellowship has previously backed entrepreneurs who went on to build billion-dollar businesses.

“An advantage of starting my business so young was naivety,” Dacombe told The Sunday Times in 2024. “You don’t have the scar tissues from what hasn’t worked, so you just try a lot of things. Fortunately, some of them work.”

AI is creating a new generation of young billionaires

Dacombe’s rise comes as artificial intelligence reshapes the technology industry and creates enormous wealth for young founders. He is now one of only 11 self-made billionaires worldwide under the age of 30, according to the figures cited in the original report, and one of just four who live outside the U.S.

The race to become the world's youngest self-made billionaire has already included several prominent technology entrepreneurs.

Meta cofounder Mark Zuckerberg became a billionaire at 23, while Snapchat cofounder Evan Spiegel reached the milestone at 24. More recently, young AI entrepreneurs including Scale AI’s Alexandr Wang and Mercor’s Surya Midha, Brendan Foody and Adarsh Hiremath have joined the billionaire ranks.

Mercor’s founders became billionaires after their company reached a $10 billion valuation in 2025.

For Dacombe, however, the latest milestone is particularly striking: a teenager who left school at 17 has built two technology companies and crossed the $1 billion wealth mark before turning 26.