Lucy Guo Becomes Youngest Self-Made Female Billionaire, Surpassing Taylor Swift in Net Worth Milestone

Lucy Guo, a 30-year-old entrepreneur and co-founder of Scale AI, has overtaken pop sensation Taylor Swift as the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, according to Forbes.

Guo’s net worth has reached $1.3 billion, primarily due to her 5% ownership in Scale AI, a data-labelling firm valued at $25 billion.

Although Swift remains the wealthiest female musician globally with $1.6 billion, Guo now holds the distinction of being the youngest woman to independently reach billionaire status.

Early Life and Journey to Tech Stardom

Born on October 14, 1994, in Fremont, California, Guo was raised by Chinese immigrant parents who both worked as electrical engineers.

Despite her parents’ concern over the difficulties faced by women in tech, Guo began coding in the second grade. As a teenager, she created bots for online games like Neopets and earned money by selling virtual items.

She later attended Carnegie Mellon University to study computer science but dropped out in 2014 after earning the Thiel Fellowship, which grants $100,000 to young entrepreneurs to pursue business ventures instead of completing college.

Founding Scale AI

Guo’s professional journey included roles at Facebook and Snapchat, where she became the platform’s first female designer. Later, while working at Quora, she met Alexandr Wang, with whom she co-founded Scale AI in 2016.

Guo oversaw operations and design, while Wang took on the role of CEO. At the time, Guo was 21 and Wang 19.

Guo exited Scale AI two years later following a reported disagreement with Wang. Despite leaving the company, she retained her 5% stake.

With Scale AI’s current valuation nearing $25 billion, her share is worth approximately $1.2 billion. She is the only woman under 40 on Forbes’ list of billionaires who made the majority of their wealth from a company they no longer operate in.

Creating Passes and Legal Challenges

Following Scale AI, Guo established Backend Capital, a venture capital fund aimed at empowering top engineers. In 2022, she launched Passes, a content creation platform designed as a family-friendly alternative to OnlyFans.

The platform allows creators to retain up to 90% of their earnings and had raised $40 million in Series A funding by 2024.

However, Passes became embroiled in legal trouble in February 2025, when a class action lawsuit alleged the platform failed to stop the spread of child pornography.

The suit also cited Guo for allegedly overriding internal safeguards. Guo denied the allegations, describing the case as “a defamatory attempt” to extort $15 million.

Modest Lifestyle, Billionaire Status

Guo splits her time between a luxury Miami apartment and a home in Los Angeles. She is known for commuting via electric skateboard or being driven by her assistant in an older Honda Civic.

Though she leads a fast-paced life filled with techno raves and daily Barry’s Bootcamp classes, she maintains a modest approach to money. Guo told Fortune that she remains thrifty, often shopping at Shein and using “buy-one-get-one-free” deals on Uber Eats.

In a 2022 interview, she addressed her polarising online image, admitting, “A lot of people don’t like me because, honestly, I seem like an a–hole online. I would not like me on the internet.” Still, she feels her authenticity resonates with some.

Frugality in Perspective

Despite her immense wealth, Guo refrains from flaunting it. She told Fortune she dislikes wasting money and prefers practicality over luxury.

While she occasionally flies business class for long trips or dons a designer outfit for special events, she generally avoids extravagant purchases. “Everything I wear is free or from Shein… I still literally buy buy-one-get-one-free on Uber Eats,” she said.

Guo explained that true billionaires don’t feel the need to display wealth. “Who you see typically wasting money on designer clothes, a nice car, et cetera, they’re technically in the millionaire range,” she said, adding that billionaires like her have no need to prove themselves with flashy items.

Earlier in her career, she admitted to indulging in designer goods, but said that phase was tied to insecurity.

Philosophy of a Non-Traditional Billionaire

Guo rejects the idea that her frugality is for public appeal. She believes many wealthy individuals try to appear relatable because of the growing public disapproval of billionaires in America.

“I’m not saying it to be like, ‘let me show you the world that I’m not like other billionaires,’” she said, adding that she genuinely lives modestly out of principle.

She believes that those who are no longer trying to prove themselves often shed material displays of success. “And I think that’s kind of how I feel, where I’m past that hump. I don’t really have to prove myself to anyone.”

Despite driving a Honda Civic, Guo knows that her wealth speaks for itself. “No one’s going to look at me and point at me like, ‘Haha, she’s so broke’… it doesn’t matter,” she added.