"Earned 2 Trillion Won by 30"... Lucy Guo Surpasses Taylor Swift as Youngest Self-Made Female Billionaire

Co-founder of Scale AI, Lucy Guo
Estimated Assets of 1.7875 Trillion Won
"My Wealth Exists Only on Paper"

Lucy Guo, age 30, co-founder of the artificial intelligence company Scale AI, has surpassed pop star Taylor Swift, age 35, to become the world's youngest self-made female billionaire.

Lucy Guo, co-founder of Scale AI, has become the world's youngest self-made female billionaire at age 30. Photo by Lucy Guo Instagram.

Recently, the American business magazine Forbes reported, "Guo has become the world's youngest self-made female billionaire while retaining her stake in Scale AI, even though she left the company several years ago." The report added, "She has taken the top spot from Swift, who had held the title continuously since being named number one in 2023."

According to Forbes, Scale AI is currently in the final stages of a tender offer, in which investors or the company purchase shares from existing shareholders. This transaction is expected to be completed by June 1, and the company's valuation is estimated to reach $25 billion (35.75 trillion won). This represents an 80% increase since May of last year, when Scale AI raised $1 billion (1.43 trillion won) at a valuation of $13.8 billion (19.734 trillion won).

Guo left the company in 2018 due to differences of opinion with co-founder Alexandr Wang, but she still holds about a 5% stake. Her shares are valued at approximately $1.2 billion (1.716 trillion won). Forbes reported that if her stake in her second startup, Passes, is included, her total assets are estimated at $1.25 billion (1.7875 trillion won).

Regarding her feelings about becoming the number one female billionaire, Guo said, "I don't think about it too deeply. Everything exists only on paper."

Forbes noted, "Guo is one of only six self-made female billionaires under the age of 40 in the world." The magazine also stated, "She is the only person to have accumulated most of her wealth from a company she has already left."

Born into a Chinese immigrant family, Guo grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States. She began coding in middle school and dropped out of Carnegie Mellon University's computer science program to participate in the Thiel Fellowship, sponsored by Peter Thiel. In 2016, at the age of 21, she co-founded Scale AI with Alexandr Wang, whom she met while working as a product designer at Quora and Snapchat.

The company initially focused on labeling data for artificial intelligence (AI) training. Later, it expanded its business to include analyzing satellite images of Ukraine and supporting the training of OpenAI's ChatGPT. In 2018, Guo was dismissed from the company due to differences in management style.

After leaving, Guo founded the venture capital firm Backend Capital and began investing in early-stage companies. In 2020, she invested in Ramp, a financial software company now valued at $13 billion.

In 2022, she founded the creator platform Passes, which supports communication between celebrities and their fans. The company has signed contracts with well-known figures such as gymnast Olivia Dunne, basketball player Shaquille O'Neal, and DJ Kygo. Passes received $50 million (about 70 billion won) in investment from firms including Mary Meeker's Bond Capital, and its valuation was estimated at $150 million (about 210 billion won).