The Forbes 30 Under 30 Curse Goes Political: From Defrauding VCs to Plundering a Nation
New op-ed columns expose how the infamous list's taint has leaped from startup fraud to an anti-corruption populist who looted a country after being honored as a CEO.
MANILA, PHILIPPINES, August 10, 2026 -- The "Forbes 30 Under 30 curse" is no longer just a cautionary tale about hype-driven startups swindling venture capitalists. In a trio of devastating new op-ed columns published on Bob Tacto's Columns, writer Bob Tacto traces how that curse has metastasized into outright state-level corruption. The catalyst: a charismatic anti-corruption populist politician who, years before his rise to power, was fêted by Forbes as a visionary CEO — and who now stands accused of orchestrating a systematic plunder and impunity of his own country.
The first piece, "The Forbes 30 Under 30 Curse: From Fraud to Plunder," (https://bobtactoscolumns.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-forbes-30-under-30-curse-from.html) revisits the pattern that turned the list into a punchline — entrepreneurs like Sam Bankman-Fried and Elizabeth Holmes who turned investor millions into ashes. But Tacto argues that the curse's latest incarnation is qualitatively different: a politician who campaigned on rooting out corruption while quietly building a kleptocratic apparatus, using the credibility of his Forbes honor as a shield. https://patch.com/california/daly-city-ca/forbes-30-under-30-curse-ch ... under-nodx
https://www.forbes.com/pictures/lmh45edfgg/leandro-leviste/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/roellandingin/2022/07/07/young-philippin ... power-use/
The second column, "The Unraveling of a Prodigy: From Solar Dreams to National Looting," (https://bobtactoscolumns.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-unraveling-of-prodi ... solar.html) delivers 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 reveals, the same individual allegedly turned state coffers into a personal piggy bank, stripping public assets on a scale that dwarfs the VC frauds that came before. https://patch.com/california/daly-city-ca/unraveling-prodigy-solar-sa ... ssman-nodx
The Third Column "The Boy Who Cried Thief: How Leandro Leviste Became the Forbes 30 Under 30's Most Dangerous Disgrace", (https://bobtactoscolumns.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-boy-who-cried-thief ... 98841.html) delivers a punch we didn't think could happen. Its like a house of cards but the pattern he is referring to is that Leviste borrows a playbook straight out of another group of anti-corruption populist politicians and its Sara and Rodrigo Duterte. Yes accuse your opponents of corruption and bypass due process to get there. Note this is currently investigated by the Philippine Ombudsman and the National Bureau of Investigation. https://patch.com/california/daly-city-ca/boy-who-cried-thief-nodx
"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 the case that the former CEO-politician exploited the Forbes halo to disarm journalists, foreign investors, and even 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."
About Bob Tacto's Columns:
Bob Tacto's Columns is an independent op-ed platform offering sharp opinions on the intersection of business, politics, and the cult of entrepreneurship. From Silicon Valley boardrooms to presidential palaces, the blog probes the personalities and systems that shape — and break — public trust.
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