Meet the NEW YOUNGEST BILLIONAIRE! She dethroned Taylor Swift and earned her fortune on her own
American entrepreneur Lucy Guo (30) has become the youngest self-made billionaire in the world.
In the anniversary edition of Forbes’ 10th annual list of America’s richest self-made women, Lucy Guo secured a special place, not only because of her stunning personal fortune but also because of the story behind her success. With an estimated wealth of $1.3 billion, she has officially become the youngest woman in the world to achieve billionaire status through her own work.
The value of her artificial intelligence company Scale AI, which she founded in 2016, soared to a staggering $25 billion thanks to the latest stock buyback round. This allowed early employees and investors to sell their stakes to new or existing backers. With this move, she dethroned the famous singer Taylor Swift, who had held that title since the end of last year.
Who is Lucy Guo?
Lucy Guo grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area as the daughter of Chinese immigrants. She began programming in elementary school and later enrolled in computer science and human-computer interaction at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University. However, she didn’t finish her studies – she dropped out to become a Thiel Fellow, a program that enables young entrepreneurs to launch startups, according to Forbes.
Her first professional steps led her to the well-known platform Quora, where she met Alexander Wang and got a job as a product designer.
They later left Quora together and co-founded Scale AI in 2016, a company specializing in artificial intelligence.
She also briefly worked at Snapchat before fully committing to building her company.
Although Guo left Scale AI in 2018 due to management disagreements, she wisely retained her stake, which is now worth around $1.2 billion. Thanks to the rise in value, her total wealth is now estimated at $1.25 billion.
New projects and challenges
After leaving Scale AI, she founded Backend Capital, a venture capital fund, and was early to recognize the potential of the financial software company Ramp, which is now valued at $13 billion.
In 2022, she launched the startup Passes, a platform similar to Patreon and OnlyFans, enabling celebrities and content creators to directly connect with fans. Among the famous names that have collaborated with Passes are gymnast Olivia Dunne, basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal, and DJ Kygo. Passes has so far raised $50 million in investments and is currently valued at $150 million.
However, the platform recently found itself at the center of a scandal after a lawsuit was filed alleging it hosted inappropriate content. The company responded quickly by banning all underage users and removing all their content, while firmly denying the accusations.
Luxurious but work-oriented life
Guo currently lives at two addresses, in Los Angeles and Miami. As she stated for Fortune in 2023, she owns an apartment in Miami and a house in Los Angeles that’s five minutes from the office, and she commutes either on an electric skateboard or with the help of an assistant.
Although it sounds like a dream for many, Lucy often emphasizes that she lives almost exclusively for work. According to her, she eats lunch at her desk, doesn’t cook, doesn’t buy groceries, and lives on food delivery. She also mentioned that she has never had a real vacation since she works at least eight hours a day even while traveling.
"Discipline is more important than sleep"
In addition to building an empire in the tech industry, Lucy is a fitness fanatic. She regularly attends Barry’s Bootcamp, an intense group workout class she does twice a day. In April, she celebrated her 3,000th session, emphasizing that discipline is more important to her than sleep.
She spends her free time at music festivals and techno parties, and recently spent two weeks learning how to DJ.
