This story is an adapted version of one appearing in the March 26, 2012 issue of Forbes.  Part of the fun of putting together the World’s Billionaires list is finding new people with great potential, long before they make their debut. For years, we’ve kept track of these up-and-comers in our wealth database. Now we’ve started to share some of the most interesting folks with readers before they break into the club.  We featured these billionaires-in-the-making in the 2010 Forbes 400 list of richest Americans and again in that same issue last Fall. Among the previously profiled ones-to-watch are several people who already achieved billionaire status including Zynga’s Mark Pincus, Groupon’s Eric Lefkofsky, Under Armour’s Kevin Plank, Tesla’s Elon Musk and Facebook’s first president Sean Parker.  So who makes this list, our first ever to include international candidates? A couple of well-known fashion designers, a race car driver, a sportswear mogul and Facebook’s COO among others. The future is promised to no one, but for these 13 innovators below, it certainly looks bright.  (Let us know who you think stands the best chance and who you think we missed. Facebook cofounder Chris Hughes, who just announced he is buying The New Republic, is one who probably should have made this list.)  Est. Net Worth: $800 million  The glamorous UPenn graduate worked for Ralph Lauren and Vera Wang ­before launching her eponymous preppy-casual line in 2004. Her Reva ­ballet flats, conceived in 2006 and named after her mother, are $200-a-pair staples of urban wardrobes. Recent reports suggest her ex-husband plans to sell his third of the private company for upwards of $600 million; if he gets a higher price or if Tory Burch LLC floats next year as rumored, the mother of 3 could find herself a member of the ­billionaires’ club.  Alibaba’s cofounder and CFO has helped to raise nearly $7.8 billion of financing, including the sale of a 40% stake in the company to Yahoo in 2005. The Chinese e-commerce site’s more visible cofounder, Jack Ma, praised Tsai as one of 4 people for whom he was thankful in life, along with kung fu novel writer Louis Cha and fellow shareholders Masayoshi Son of Softbank and Jerry Yang of Yahoo. Born in Taiwan, Tsai got his undergrad and law degrees from Yale and then did a stint as a lawyer at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York before heading to Asia to invest on behalf of Sweden’s Wallenberg family.  Breakout year for the American fashion designer and Project Runway judge. Not only did he wed longtime partner and former intern Lance LePere on Southampton, N.Y.’s Dune Beach in August, but his fashion house also debuted on the NYSE in December, popping 25% in its first day of trading. Kors had dropped out of FIT to design an in-house line for a 57th Street store called Lothar’s when Bergdorf Goodman, situated across the street, took notice. A year later Kors released his debut with Bergdorf’s backing.
Designer Tory Burch, race car driver Michael Schumacher, and Spotify's Daniel Ek are among 13 up-and-comers to watch.