Forbes is pulling people off its nice list and putting them on a naughty one after several of its "30 Under 30" recipients went on to commit financial fraud or used their power and wealth to game the system and hurt everyday people.
The magazine released its first-ever "Hall of Shame" list, highlighting people it regrets recognizing as the next generation of leaders, tech titans, and entrepreneurs.
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"While our process correctly weeded out folks like Fyre Festival impresario Billy McFarland and, yes, even Elizabeth Holmes — one-time superstars who all wound up fraudsters — others slipped through," the magazine wrote. "Below are 10, out of 10,000, that we'd like to walk back."
At the top of the list is Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The 31-year-old former billionaire was convicted Nov. 2, 2023, on seven criminal charges and faces more than a century in federal prison when he is sentenced next year.
Bankman-Fried stole $8 billion from customers and investors, blowing it on shopping sprees, sports endorsements, and other purchases. Almost all of Bankman-Fried's inner circle, including his former girlfriend Caroline Ellison, turned on him and testified how he was the mastermind behind what federal prosecutors called one of the largest fraud cases in U.S. history. Ellison, who admitted under oath she knew what Bankman-Fried did was wrong and aided him, was on the Forbes "30 Under 30" list last year. She also crossed over to the "Hall of Shame" list.
Another person Forbes regrets recognizing is Martin Shkreli, known to many as the "pharma bro." Shkreli, the co-founder of multiple hedge funds and the former CEO of pharmaceutical firms Retrophin and Turing Pharmaceuticals, was sharply criticized after he raised the price of the antiparasitic drug Daraprim from $13.50 to $750 per pill.
In 2017, he was convicted on two counts of securities fraud and conspiracy for activity unrelated to Daraprim. He was fined $7.4 million and sentenced to seven years behind bars at a low-security federal prison in Pennsylvania. He was released early on May 18, 2022.
Charlie Javice, who has been charged with defrauding J.P. Morgan of $175 million with her student aid startup Frank, also made the list.
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Prosecutors allege Javice concocted a plan to inflate the success, size, and market penetration of Frank to "induce" J.P. Morgan to acquire it. Javice repeatedly claimed her company had more than 4 million users, though it reportedly had only 250,000 to 300,000 accounts. She was charged with securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and conspiracy in May. She has pleaded not guilty to the fraud charges and is currently out on bond. Her trial date is set for October 2024.
Other "notables" rounding out the Forbes list include Nate Paul, founder of World Class Capital Group; Cody Wilson, founder of Defense Distributed; James O'Keefe, founder of Project Veritas; Phadria Prendergast, editor-in-chief of Women of the City magazine; Steph Korey, co-founder of Away; and Lucas Duplan, founder of Clinkle.