Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index

⬅ # 224 Robert Pender|# 226 Ann Walton Kroenke➡

# 225 David Velez 

$13.9B

Estimated Net Worth
Updated 8/28/2026
-$525.24M (-3.77%)

# 225 David Velez 

$13.9B

Estimated Net Worth
Updated 8/28/2026
-$525.24M (-3.77%)
OccupationCofounder and CEO, Nubank
Source of WealthFintech
Age44
ResidenceSao Paulo, Brazil
Marital StatusMarried
EducationMBA, Stanford Graduate School of Business; BS, Stanford University
Age-Adjusted Net Worthi$41.1B
David Velez
David Velez
Colombia
Net worth: $13.9B

Self-Made Score i

TAG Heuer Carrera Automatic Silver Watch

Wealth History

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Biography

Early Life and Education

David Vélez was born in Medellin, Colombia, in 1981.
At the age of nine, Vélez and his family fled to Costa Rica to escape the violence caused by warring drug cartels in Colombia.
He attended a local German-language prep school in Costa Rica, graduating as valedictorian.
Vélez pursued his higher education at Stanford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Management Science and Engineering.
He later pursued an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Career Path

Vélez began his career in the finance industry, working in investment banking at Morgan Stanley.
He later transitioned to roles in private equity at General Atlantic and venture capital at Sequoia Capital.
In 2012, Vélez moved to São Paulo, Brazil, after being recruited by Sequoia Capital to expand its operations in the country.
Upon Sequoia Capital's decision to pull out of Brazil, Vélez seized the opportunity to launch his own startup.
This led to the founding of Nubank, a digital bank aimed at disrupting the traditional banking sector in Brazil.

Nubank's Founding and Growth

Nubank was established in 2013, with the vision of offering fee-free banking services to Brazilian consumers.
The company went public as Nu Holdings on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2021.
Within a short span, Nubank amassed a customer base of 35 million across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia.
Vélez's strategic vision and innovative approach propelled Nubank to become the most valuable digital bank in the world, with a valuation of $25 billion.

David Velez's Wealth is Equivalent to:

10,721,323 Herman Miller Aeron Chairs

Herman Miller Aeron Chair

2,635,194 Gold Bars (50 gram)

24K Solid 50g Gold Ingot

142,337 Tiny Homes

Tiny House, Two Bedroom Solar Prefab Home

How long would it take you to become as rich as David Velez?

If you started with $10,000 and invested an additional $500 each month at a 39.11% CAGR, it would take you 5 years to reach David Velez's net worth of $13.9B.

Is this realistic? It depends how closely the VIX-TA-Macro Advanced model performs to its history in the future. Since Grizzly Bulls launched on January 1, 2022, it's returned 99.00% compared to 61.46% for the S&P 500 benchmark.

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David Velez is very wealthy, but what's stopping you from reaching that same level of success? As summarized in our five fundamental rules to wealth building, becoming wealthy in a modern capitalist economy is not complicated. There's actually only three variables:

  1. Your starting capital
  2. Your earnings after expenses
  3. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of your savings

Most people start with zero or very little, so if you weren't born into wealth, don't fret! The majority of the fortunate folks listed in our Grizzly Bulls’ Billionaires Index came from middle class or lower backgrounds. The most distinguishing characteristic of the group is their ability to consistently earn a high CAGR on their savings.

Every billionaire has a unique strategy to achieve high CAGR. For David Velez, Fintech is the primary source. Whether you choose to invest your savings in your own businesses or the businesses of others is not as important. The salient piece of the puzzle is ensuring that your hard-earned savings are generating sufficient CAGR to reach your long term goals.

Most people simply invest their money in index funds and call it a day. There's nothing wrong with this approach, but it guarantees relative mediocrity. To achieve greatness, you need to invest your money to earn higher than average returns. In the long run, better investors will always finish ahead of better earners.

About the estimates:  Net worth figures are based primarily on the latest available Forbes estimates. Bloomberg may be used when a current Forbes value is unavailable. Net worth is inherently approximate and can change as markets move or source data is revised.

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Edited by: Lee Bailey