At just 30 years old, Lucy Guo has become the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire, overtaking Taylor Swift for the title. But her journey didn’t involve music tours or sold-out arenas. Guo made her mark in the high-stakes world of artificial intelligence, quietly building her wealth through a company she left years ago.
Born in California to Chinese immigrant parents, Guo was drawn to tech from an early age. She taught herself to code in middle school, started freelancing as a teenager, and eventually landed at Carnegie Mellon to study computer science. But her time there was short-lived. Guo dropped out after receiving a Thiel Fellowship, which pays young entrepreneurs to pursue start-ups instead of finishing university.
Lucy Guo’s early investment in Scale AI propels her to the ranks of the world’s youngest self-made billionairesInstagram/guoforit
In 2016, at 21, she co-founded Scale AI, a company that helps train artificial intelligence systems by labelling massive amounts of data. Her co-founder Alexandr Wang now runs the company as CEO, while Guo exited in 2018 after disagreements about its direction. Still, she held on to roughly 5% of Scale’s shares, a decision that would pay off years later.
Scale AI is now preparing for a major deal that allows early investors and employees to sell their shares. The company’s value is expected to rise to around £20 billion (₹2,090 billion), an 80% jump in less than a year. That valuation boosts Guo’s estimated net worth to £1 billion (₹104 billion), according to Forbes. She’s also the only billionaire under 40 who made most of her fortune from a company she no longer works at.
But she didn’t stop there. Guo launched a venture capital firm called Backend Capital in 2019, and in 2022, she founded Passes, a platform that helps content creators earn money through subscriptions. Passes, which has users like Olivia Dunne and DJ Kygo, has already raised £40 million (₹4.2 billion) and is valued at £120 million (₹12.5 billion).
Despite her success, Guo keeps a low profile. She’s known for merging intense work with fitness. She recently completed her 3,000th class at Barry’s Bootcamp and throws the occasional party, including one for Coachella this year. For now, she lives in Los Angeles, balancing tech, entrepreneurship, and a bit of fun on the side.
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