Who is Lucy Guo? Youngest self-made woman billionaire surpassing Taylor Swift

Tech entrepreneur Lucy Guo has officially become the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire at age 30, overtaking pop superstar Taylor Swift.

According to Forbes, Guo’s net worth surged past $1.2 billion following a tender offer that raised the valuation of her former company, Scale AI, to $25 billion.

Guo co-founded Scale AI in 2016 alongside Alexandr Wang. The San Francisco-based firm specializes in data labeling for artificial intelligence systems and serves major clients including the US government and OpenAI.

Though Guo exited the company in 2018, she retained her equity, which has now turned into a billion-dollar fortune due to the company's soaring valuation.

Raised in Fremont, California, to Chinese immigrant parents, Guo began coding in middle school. She briefly studied at Carnegie Mellon University before dropping out to join the Thiel Fellowship in 2014.

Her early career included roles at Quora and Snapchat before co-founding Scale AI.

Following her departure from Scale, Guo founded Backend Capital, a venture fund, and later launched Passes—a subscription-based content platform similar to OnlyFans and Patreon.

Since its 2022 launch, Passes has raised $50 million and is currently valued at $150 million, attracting creators like Olivia Dunne and Shaquille O’Neal.

However, Passes recently faced controversy after being named in a lawsuit involving child sexual abuse material.

The company denied any wrongdoing and said all underage accounts had been removed before the legal filing.

Despite legal scrutiny, Guo joins a select group of fewer than 10 self-made women billionaires under 40 globally, half of whom are American citizens.