A 17-year-old high school senior from Queens has allegedly made $72 million by trading stocks on his lunch breaks at Stuyvesant High School, New York Magazine reported.
At his age, Mohammed Islam, the teenage son of Bengali immigrants, has already managed to buy himself a BMW, New York magazine added, although he still doesn't have a license to drive it. Moreover, the report revealed that he was able to rent a Manhattan apartment, but his parents won't let him move out of the house yet.
Because of his portfolio, Business Insider has included him in its list of "20 Under 20".
Islam, along with his friends and business partners, Damir Tulemaganbetov and Patrick Trabulsi, are planning to start their own hedge fund, after Islam turns 18. By then, Islam can get can get his broker-dealer license, according to MTV.
The three Wall Street buddies eat regularly at hot spot Morimoto, where they enjoy $400 caviar and freshly-squeezed apple juice, New York magazine added.
Words of wisdom from a 17-year-old millionaire
During the interview with New York Magazine, Islam tried to explain why he went to trading and investment. "Money. If money is not flowing, if businesses don't keep going, there's no innovation, no products, no investments, no growth, no jobs."
"Mo's our maestro," Patrick said as quoted by New York Magazine. "He's going to be earning the big bucks. We're just going to try to fill his needs."
The three friends plan on going to college next year, but according to Damir, their ultimate goal is to earn a billion dollars by 2015, according to Market Watch.
However, according to Islam, money is not their main motivation. He told New York Magazine: "We want to create a brotherhood. Like, all of us who are connected, who are in something together, who have influence, like the Koch brothers," referring to sibling oil magnates Charles and David, worth $40 billion each.
The truth about Islam's financial status
In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Islam clarified that he's not worth $72 million.
However, he did put it on record that he was worth "a few million dollars."
The teen added that he and his friends did not expect that things will quickly change. "The attention is not what we expected - we never wanted the hype. This was about friends trying to make something exciting together, " Islam told CNBC.
Apparently, Islam and his friends didn't like how the New York Magazine interview turned out.
"We expected a regular article about what we hope to do in our career. The way we were portrayed is not who we are," he told CNBC.
