Faheem also was named this year by the New York Times as one of eight . And he suggested that he has plenty of traditional values to go with his nontraditional vision. His parents --- who sold Bengali trinkets from home while he was growing up --- told him "we don't want you to necessarily be the richest guy on the block. But always try to help people, especially globally, if you can."

With this inaugural class, the Thiel Foundation does something mathematically counterintuitive (though not exactly anti-inflationary) on its own. It redefines the number 20. For its "20 under 20" program, it selected 24 teens.

So, Harvard and MIT can wait. Good luck, Jeffrey and Faheem.