Top 10 New Billionaires that Data Science has Made Over the Decade

Big data and big money go hand in hand. An increasing number of tech industry titans who have made it on the list are mainly through their investments in big data technology and applications. Have a look at the top 10 New Billionaires that Data Science has made over the decade.

Travis Kalanick

Travis Kalanick used to work at Uber and stepped back from it in the wake of numerous scandals. Uber has up-ended the process of hailing and hiring short trips. The reason why Uber tasted success in a short span of time is because of the data wonks who build systems and algorithms to analyze and predict demand and dynamically put a price on trips. Travis made a good chunk of money (so much so that he turns out to be a billionaire) while he worked in the field of data with Uber.

Vincent Viola

The story of Vincent Viola is quite interesting. He is the son of a truck driver from Brooklyn. Who would have thought that he would be one of those big data billionaires that people would look up to? This data billionaire founded Virtu Financial which ultimately resulted in Viola making billions. Virtu Financial is into the high-speed analysis of stock trade data and algorithmic prediction.

Alexander Karp

Alexander Karp undoubtedly makes it to the list of the top 10 New Billionaires that Data Science has made over the decade for the sole reason that he brought Palantir into existence. This big data company has made headlines for all the right reasons – making billionaires, being one among them.

Lucy Peng

Amazon is not prominent in China. Thanks to Alibaba, China's straightforward answer to Amazon in the e-commerce world. Lucy Peng is one such billionaire that the company has minted. She is extremely passionate about data and has currently taken up the role of executive chair at AliPay, the world's largest mobile, and online payment platform.

Reed Hastings

Who doesn't know Netflix? Well, Netflix is everyone's go-to place for movies and series as it eliminated the necessity of you relying on trusted friends or media sources for the same.  Netflix was founded by Reed Hastings and made the latter a billionaire in the least possible time. The careful tracking and analysis of your individual viewing habits by Reed's company did sheer magic!

Lee Sang-Hyuk

Lee Sang-Hyuk is the brain behind Yello Mobile boasting of being a massive mobile media company with diverse big data plays such as mobile dating, online payments, and even an automated wake-up call service. This Korea-based tech billionaire came to the big data world quite naturally and there has been no looking back since then. 

Patrick Collison

Patrick Collison had a clear-cut idea – leveraging big data to make online payment processing safe and affordable. This gave birth to Stripe, a company that makes use of automation and machine learning-based fraud detection to sniff out sketchy transactions before they can do damage. In no time, Patrick Collison became a billionaire who deserves appreciation.

Forrest Li

Forrest Li is the founder and CEO of Asia's most valuable tech startup. This data-oriented mind has a brilliant idea put forth – AirPay mobile payment system that is expected to take Asia by storm. Forrest Li's Garena is a gaming company that forms the foundation of Sea Limited.

John Collison

Co-founder and president of Stripe, John comes from a hospitality background. He was born and raised in Ireland. His parents ran a lakeside hotel. John along with his brother came up with the idea of Stripe, a company that lets businesses and individuals accept payments over the internet. A fun fact to note is that it was during the brothers' vacation in South America that the company made its first payment.

Kevin Systrom

Systrom has made it to the list because Instagram, his invention has made headlines for the popularity it gained. This photo-sharing service was anointed as the chosen one in the social media space when Facebook purchased the company in 2012. Kevin's growing bank balance is good enough an indication as to why he makes it to the list of top billionaires in the field of data.