An elite club of investors, entrepreneurs, and heirs that spans industries and countries demands only one qualification of its members: Have a fortune of at least $1 billion.
The world's billionaires are tracked in real time by lists like Bloomberg's Billionaires Index and Forbes' World's Billionaires, which monitor net worths and recognize new members when their assets increase in value to surpass the billion-dollar mark.
For years, the technology industry has dominated this list. It's churned out names like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, who were briefly the three richest people in the world in July, and have for years sustained spots in the Top 10. It seems the tech industry isn't slowing down with regard to its contributions, either.
As of January 2018, the tech sector has already created 11 billionaires, according to Bloomberg's Anne Vandermey. While it's a long way to the top, these co-founders have joined the ranks of the most well-known names in the world by creating a newly public, newly acquired, or newly funded tech company that helped push them over the top.
Here are the 11 newest billionaires in tech in 2018, and the events that helped get them there: