Born in 1994 in Fremont, California, to Chinese immigrants, Lucy Guo grew up with parents who were both electrical engineers. Despite being advised to stay away from the tech industry because of the hardships it posed for women, Guo showed early signs of natural talent. By second grade, she had taught herself programming and was earning money through PayPal by developing bots for the game Neopets, selling in-game assets for profit. By high school, Guo had won a series of computer science competitions, laying the foundation for her future career.

In 2014, Guo enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University, majoring in computer science, but she quickly dropped out of school when she received the Thiel Fellowship – a $100,000 scholarship from billionaire Peter Thiel for young people who drop out of school to start their own businesses. This bold decision took her to Silicon Valley, where she began her journey to conquer the technology industry.

Lucy Guo

In Silicon Valley, Guo gained experience through internships at Facebook and Snapchat, where she became Snapchat’s first female designer, helping to develop the Snap Maps feature. She then joined Quora as a product designer, where she met Alexandr Wang, who would later co-found Scale AI. These years helped Guo hone her product design skills and realize the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) to shape the future.

…To the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire

In 2016, at the age of 21, Guo co-founded Scale AI with Alexandr Wang. The San Francisco-based company provides data labeling services for training AI models, serving major clients such as OpenAI, Toyota, and the US government. Scale AI quickly became one of the tech unicorns, reaching a valuation of $7.3 billion (about 185 trillion VND) in 2021.

At Scale AI, Guo led operations and product design, helping to land Scale AI on the Forbes Under 30 list in 2018.

Lucy Guo and Alexandr Wang are co-founders of Scale AI.

However, she left the company that same year due to “differences of opinion” with Wang. But despite leaving, Guo chose to keep nearly 5% of Scale AI’s shares instead of selling. And this was a completely wise decision.

According to Forbes (USA), as of April 2025, Scale AI’s value has skyrocketed to 25 billion USD (about 636 trillion VND), compared to May last year, the company’s value has increased dramatically by 80%. This also means that Guo’s current net worth has increased to 1.2 billion USD (about 30 trillion VND), accounting for the majority of her assets. After this deal, Forbes estimates Guo’s total assets to be up to 1.25 billion USD (about 31 trillion VND) when including the value of Passis, the second startup she founded.

With that total assets, Lucy Guo has officially become the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world, surpassing pop star Taylor Swift (35 years old). Meanwhile, there are currently only 6 self-made female billionaires under 40 years old in the world and Guo is the youngest of the six. Next are Swift (35 years old), Daniela Amodei (37 years old), Melanie Perkins (37 years old), Rihanna (37 years old) and Lu Yiwen (37 years old).

With a fortune of about 1.25 billion USD, Lucy Guo has officially surpassed Taylor Swift to become the youngest self-made female billionaire in the world, according to Forbes rankings.

It’s worth noting that Scale AI is currently finalizing an offering that would allow employees and early investors to sell their shares, which would also mean Lucy Guo’s total assets could continue to increase if she makes a share transfer with other investors. However, Forbes said Guo has not commented on whether she will sell her shares.

“To be honest, I don’t think much about assets. It’s a bit irrational. It’s all just paper value,” Guo shared in an interview with Forbes.

The decision to keep her stake demonstrates Guo’s foresight and confidence in Scale AI’s potential, even if she is no longer directly involved in running the company. It’s not just a financial win, but also a testament to her ability to make strategic decisions in difficult times.

Facing the crisis

After leaving Scale AI, Guo continued to make a name for herself through two major projects. In 2019, she co-founded Backend Capital, a venture capital fund focused on early-stage startups. The fund has invested in companies such as Ramp, a fintech startup with a billion-dollar valuation. Backend Capital has helped Guo build influence in the startup community, especially among young founders.

In 2022, Guo launched Passes, a platform that helps content creators earn money through subscriptions, competing with Patreon and OnlyFans. Passes uses AI to create digital avatars that allow celebrities to interact with fans via livestream, messaging, or video calls. The platform has attracted names like athlete Olivia Dunne and DJ Kygo, raised $50 million from investors like Bond Capital, and reached a $150 million valuation by 2024. Passes contributes to Guo’s $1.25 billion fortune, cementing her position in the tech industry.

Passes App.

However, recently Guo and Passes are facing no small challenge.

Passes, a second startup she founded, recently came under scrutiny for allegedly allowing the production, possession, sale, and distribution of child pornography. Guo and Passes have vehemently denied the allegations.

Despite facing significant challenges, in an increasingly competitive technology industry, Guo continues to inspire with his desire for innovation and relentless spirit. Especially the philosophies of life that Guo strives for.

Not only is she the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, but she’s also a symbol of perseverance and vision in the technology industry.

Guo is a follower of the FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) movement, learning about money management from Reddit forums like Lean FIRE and Fat FIRE. Despite her vast wealth, she lives a frugal life, preferring to get around on an electric skateboard and relying on Uber Eats instead of cooking for herself. Guo is an active member of Barry’s Bootcamp, boasts 3,000 workouts under her belt, and frequently shares her philosophy: “Discipline > Sleep.”

She owns a $6.7 million apartment at One Thousand Museum in Miami and a $4.2 million home in Los Angeles, but rarely flaunts it. One of Guo’s more lavish purchases is a $500,000 Audemars Piguet Tourbillon watch, which she considers more a work of art than an accessory.