Meet world’s oldest billionaire: 101-year-old WWII pilot founded Rs 29000 crore firm, not an Indian, his net worth is...

American World War II soldier George Joseph is the only billionaire in the world to have been older than late Keshub Mahindra in the Forbes World’s Richest list 2023. The 99-year-old uncle of industrialist Anand Mahindra was India’s oldest billionaire until recently when he passed away. 101-year-old Joseph is the oldest billionaire across the globe with a net worth of Rs 10,784 crore ($1.3 billion).

A former US Air Force navigator who flew around 50 missions during WWII worked his way up from a door-to-door salesman to building a company with over Rs 29,000 crore ($3.5 billion) annual revenue. He founded his insurance company, named Mercury General after the Greek God, in 1962. At the time, Joseph had raised $2 million to start the insurance provider which incentivised safer-than-average drivers with discounted deals.

Joseph draws his enormous wealth from the 34 percent stake he holds in the publicly-listed company. His firm specialises in providing vehicle, home and fire insurance. He is an alumni of the prestigious Harvard University from where he graduated with majors in maths and physics.

Now America and World's oldest billionaire, Joseph is the child of parents who immigrated from Lebanon. His father was a miner and shopkeeper. He used to work at another insurance firm but left to build his own business when his expansion idea was rejected.