The Forbes 30 Under 30 list has long been associated with a 'curse' of startup founders who dazzle investors only to face scandal. But in a new series of columns, writer Bob Tacto argues that this curse has evolved from defrauding venture capitalists to plundering entire nations. The catalyst is a politician who, years before his rise to power, was celebrated by Forbes as a visionary CEO—and now stands accused of orchestrating systematic corruption.
In the first column, 'The Forbes 30 Under 30 Curse: From Fraud to Plunder,' Tacto revisits the familiar pattern of entrepreneurs like Sam Bankman-Fried and Elizabeth Holmes, who turned investor millions into ashes. However, he contends that the curse's latest incarnation is qualitatively different: a politician who campaigned on anti-corruption while quietly building a kleptocratic apparatus, using the credibility of his Forbes honor as a shield.
The second column, 'The Unraveling of a Prodigy: From Solar Dreams to National Looting,' provides a forensic case study. It details the arc of a young solar-energy CEO who graced the 30 Under 30 list, later surfacing as a populist firebrand promising to clean up government. Once in office, Tacto alleges, the same individual turned state coffers into a personal piggy bank, stripping public assets on a scale that dwarfs the VC frauds of the past.
The third column, 'The Boy Who Cried Thief: How Leandro Leviste Became the Forbes 30 Under 30's Most Dangerous Disgrace,' delivers a shocking twist. Tacto draws parallels to the playbook of Rodrigo and Sara Duterte, where accusing opponents of corruption and bypassing due process become tools of control. Leviste, the subject of these columns, is currently under investigation by the Philippine Ombudsman and the National Bureau of Investigation.
'We've become numb to the idea that a 30 Under 30 badge predicts a perp walk in Silicon Valley,' Tacto writes. 'But when that badge launders the reputation of a politician who then drains a nation's treasury, we're not talking about a 'curse' of bad luck. We're talking about a pattern of impunity that the list itself helps manufacture.'
The columns rely on court documents, parliamentary inquiries, and leaked financial records to build a case that the former CEO-politician exploited the Forbes halo to disarm journalists, foreign investors, and international anti-corruption bodies. By the time the looting was exposed, the damage was sovereign-level.
'This isn't just another fallen wunderkind,' Tacto concludes. 'It's a warning that the prestige we attach to youth and glossy magazine covers can be weaponized against entire democracies.'
