Revealed: The Russell Group unis churning out the most Forbes 30 Under 30 winners in 2024

Yes, they’re not all Oxbridge

1 month ago | UPDATED 1 month ago

Is it your dream to become a bit of an entrepreneur, woo Alan Sugar and bag yourself a spot on the next Forbes 30 Under 30 List? Well, it turns out there are specific unis you should be going to that will help you nab that goal.

Every year Forbes releases its 30 Under 30 List which is a list of 30 people under the age of 30 from different industries who are the best entrepreneurs in the world. It’s a pretty massive deal and Forbes receives over 20,000 nominations for the award every year. Prominent winners include Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, Kylie Jenner, Grace Beverley and Malala Yousafzai as well as the founders of all the biggest companies like Instagram, Glossier and Pinterest.

But now University Compare has worked out the unis that all the successful candidates go to, and what they study. By analysing LinkedIn data of winners, it found that one in eight winners didn’t go to uni and only 59 per cent who did go studied something that directly informed their careers. But of all the winners who did go to uni, they all come from the same universities and you’ll be winning no prizes for guessing which ones they are.

So these are the Russell Group universities you need to study at to bag yourself a spot on Forbes 30 Under 30 and what you should be studying:

10. University of Sussex – 15 winners

9. Newcastle University – 15 winners

8. London School of Economics – 20 winners

7. King’s College London – 25 winners

6. University of Bristol – 25 winners

5. University of Warwick – 25 winners

4. Imperial College London – 50 winners

3. University College London – 55 winners

2. University of Cambridge – 80 winners

1. University of Oxford – 100 winners

These are the most popular uni subjects of all the Forbes under 30 winners:

5. Management

Half of all Forbes 30 Under 30 winners were listed as a CEO of their company so it’s not surprising that a lot of them studied management of some sort at uni.

4. Finance

Finance or economics was a degree that a lot of winners had underneath their belts as it allows you to gain an insight into how to run a successful and profitable business.

3. Computer Science

As the third most popular degree for winners, computer software is actually the most popular industry for all Forbes winners to go into with 12.1 per cent of all winners coming from that industry.

2. Engineering

Engineering is one of the most well-paying degrees so it’s no surprise that it’s the second most popular among Forbes 30 under 30 winners.

1. Business

13 per cent of all Forbes 30 Under 30 winners studied business at university making it the most popular degree choice.