LGBTQ billionaires

Within the LGBTQ community, there are more than one dozen known billionaires. As of 2025, ^[update] entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel ^[1] and Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani are the two riches individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transsexual. ^[2]

History

In 1992, record executive, film producer, and media titan David Geffen came out, and is recognized as the first openly gay billionaire in the world. ^[3]

In 1999, Dolce and Gabbana co-founders and billionaires Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana announced in an interview that they were a gay couple. ^[4]

Giorgio Armani, one of the richest LGBTQ billionaires

In 2000, Jon Stryker, a grandson of Homer Stryker, who founded Stryker Corporation, a medical technologies company, announced that he was gay around the same time as the launch of his Arcus Foundation, one of the largest funders of LGBT charitable organizations. ^[5]

On August 16, 2013, Jennifer Pritzker made headlines by announcing that she identifies herself as a woman for all business and personal undertakings. This announcement made Pritzker the world's first openly transgender billionaire. ^[6]

In 2014, Apple CEO and billionaire Tim Cook became the first openly gay chief executive of a Fortune 500 company. ^[7]

In October 2015, Norway's second richest billionaire Stein Erik Hagen came out as bisexual on the Norwegian talk show Skavlan. ^[8]

At the 2016 Republican National Convention, billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel announced that he was, "Proud to be Gay". ^[9]

For most of his career, Giorgio Armani was known for being private about his personal affairs. In 2024, he talked openly about his sexuality and his male and female partners. ^[10]

In 2024, Forbes estimated that United Therapeutics founder Martine Rothblatt, who is transgender, has a net worth greater than one billion dollars due to the appreciation of her company's stock. ^[11]

List

LGBTQ billionaires

Name	Net worth US$ (billions)	LGBTQ identity	Citizenship	Ref.
Peter Thiel	16.30	Gay man	Germany New Zealand United States	[1] [12]
Giorgio Armani	11.6	Bisexual man	Italy	[2] [13]
David Geffen	8.70	Gay man	United States	[12] [14]
Jon Stryker	5.60	Gay man	United States	[12] [15]
Tim Cook	2.5	Gay man	United States	[12] [16]
Stein Erik Hagen	2.30	Bisexual man	Norway	[17] [18]
Tom Ford	2.20	Gay man	United States	[19]
Jennifer Pritzker	1.80	Trans woman	United States	[12]
Domenico Dolce	1.74	Gay man	Italy	[12]
Stefano Gabbana	1.56	Gay man	Italy	[12]
Megan Ellison	1.50	Lesbian	United States	[20]
Sam Altman	1.1	Gay man	United States	[21] [22]
GT Dave	1	Gay man	United States	[23] [24]
Martine Rothblatt	1	Trans woman	United States	[11]

See also

• Lists of billionaires
• Black billionaires
• List of countries by the number of billionaires

References

1. 'Forbes (March 8, 2025). Peter Thiel $16.30. Real Time Net Worth.
2. Forbes (March 8, 2025). Giorgio Armani $11.6. Real Time Net Worth.
3. Cohan, William D. (October 30, 2014). Praise for Coming Out From Someone Who Did. New York Times.
4. Vogue (August 14, 2015). Domenico Dolce Apologizes for His Controversial Remarks. see “We made our first interview saying we are gay in 1999. It was a question, can you imagine, so late?” Gabbana says.
5. Interview with Jon Stryker: A Journey to Inclusive Philanthropy. Global Giving Matters.
6. Solomon, Brian (September 16, 2013). "Jennifer Pritzker Becomes First Transgender Billionaire". Forbes .
7. Goldman, David (October 26, 2018). Tim Cook: Being gay is God’s greatest gift to me. CNN.
8. "Norway's Second Richest Billionaire Comes Out As Bisexual". Towleroad. October 2015.
9. Selyukh, Alina (July 21, 2016). 'I Am Proud To Be Gay,' Tech Investor Peter Thiel Tells GOP Convention. NPR.
10. Duncan, Charlie (October 17, 2024). Giorgio Armani opens up about his sexuality and male partners: ‘I’ve never talked about this’. PinkNews.
11. Chang, Richard J. (July 18, 2024). The planet's latest billionaire is a helicopter-flying transgender woman hell-bent on curing her daughter's disease. Forbes.
12. Robehmed, Natalie (March 3, 2014). "Meet The World's LGBT Billionaires". Forbes.
13. "#174 Giorgio Armani". Forbes.
14. Forbes (March 7, 2025). David Geffen $8.7B. Real Time Net Worth.
15. Forbes (March 8, 2025). Jon Stryker $5.6B. Real Time Net Worth.
16. Forbes (March 8, 2025). Tim Cook. $2.5B. Real Time Net Worth.
17. Forbes (March 7, 2025). Stein Erik Hagen. $2.3B. Real Time Net Worth.
18. "Norway's second richest billionaire comes out as bisexual on chat show watched by 3m viewers". The Independent.
19. "Profile - Tom Ford". Forbes.
20. "Three Game-Changing Female Producers Make Sure Passion-Driven Films Hit the Screen". Variety.
21. "Sam Altman". Forbes.
22. Forbes (March 8, 2025). Sam Altman $1.1B. Real Time Net Worth.
23. "GT Dave". Forbes.
24. "GT Dave on breaking down stereotypes as a gay business leader". Fast Company (Video interview). Retrieved 18 February 2024.