Bay Area Native Ousts Taylor Swift as World's Youngest Self-Made Woman Billionaire

The Brief

• Lucy Guo, who is 30 years old, has been recognized as the youngest self-made female billionaire globally by Forbes.
• Taylor Swift was previously the holder of that title.
• Guo co-founded San Francisco-based Scale AI but is no longer with the company.

FREMONT, Calif. - By the time she reached 30 years old, Lucy Guo, an artificial intelligence entrepreneur from the Bay Area, has unseated the prominent celebrity heavyweight Taylor Swift as the globe's most youthful self-made female billionaire, in a fresh Forbes review.

As of Tuesday, Forbes put her real-time net worth at $1.3 billion.

In 2016, Guo co-founded San Francisco-based Scale AI When she was just 21, alongside Alexandr Wang.

SEE ALSO: Forbes 'new billionaires' include former governor Schwarzenegger and Bay Area figures

In 2018, she departed from the company allegedly due to conflicts regarding its strategic path and management practices.

By the numbers

But she has retained a stake in Scale AI, of almost 5%, according to Forbes. Last year, the firm was valued at $13.8 billion after a round of funding that raised $1 billion.

Estimates now put the value of the privately-held company as high as $25 billion as it finalizes a potential tender offer expected to be completed by next month.

Guo would not comment on whether she planned to sell any of her stakes as part of the tender offer, according to Forbes.

Dig deeper

Following her departure from Scale AI, Guo co-founded a venture capital firm, Backend Capital, before returning to the start-up world.

In 2022, she launched Passes , a direct-to-fan engagement platform. Similar to sites like OnlyFans and Patreon, Passes provides tools for content creators to monetize their fan base.

"Passes signed deals with celebrities including gymnast Olivia Dunne, basketball legend Shaquille O’Neal and DJ Kygo," Forbes reported, noting the company raised $50 million from investors over two years starting in 2022.

Despite the acclaim Guo has garnered for her business acumen and extraordinary achievements, she has recently been making news for different reasons as well. lawsuit charging Passes with aiding the spread of child pornography and taking advantage of minor content creators.

The company has refuted The assertions state, “Aligned with its purpose, Passes prohibits the posting of explicit material and takes proactive measures to detect and eliminate any breaches of its policies.”

The firm referred to the legal proceedings as a defamation effort and stated, “Let’s make this unequivocally plain: Any assertion suggesting that Passes allowed or supported the sharing of sensitive material posted by any user, especially someone underage, on their platform is completely untrue and negligently ignores reality.”

Elite group

According to Forbes, Guo was among just six self-made female billionaires under 40 years old globally.

She takes over as the youngest from 35-year-old Taylor Swift in that category, a title that the worldwide sensation and songwriting artist has maintained since Forbes announced her net worth had reached billionaire status in 2023.

Guo was featured in Forbes' 30 Under 30 list in 2018.

Bay Area roots

A native of Fremont Her parents are Chinese immigrants who worked as electrical engineers.

A representative from Passes informed KTVU that the company's CEO and co-founder resided in the Bay Area for twenty years before relocating to Los Angeles.

According to Forbes, Guo started programming during her middle school years, and from an early age, she developed a strong passion for computer science along with showcasing remarkable business skills.

Guo attended Foothill High School In Pleasanton, where she made her impact.

A spokesperson shared a photo of a touching letter Guo wrote to a high school teacher.

The letter read in part, "I know I drove you crazy sophomore year… thanks for putting up with me though. You literally changed my way of thinking toward life."

The letter was saved by the teacher all these years, the spokesperson said.

After Foothill, Guo then went on to attend college at Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania.

But in 2014 after two years in college, she dropped out to become a Thiel Fellow The two-year initiative, designed for individuals eager to create innovative projects, was established by technology financier Peter Thiel. This opportunity provides Thiel Fellows with a $100,000 stipend along with resources to either bypass or abandon their collegiate studies in order to launch startups.

Guo, just 30 years old, stands out as a pioneer in both the technology and artificial intelligence sectors. Known for his entrepreneurial spirit, he embodies ambition and drive coupled with a bold and unabashedly nonconformist attitude, never hesitating to embrace unusual paths.

In an industry largely led by men, Guo hasn't merely shattered the glass ceiling; she has soared to unprecedented elevations. This young billionaire continues to reach greater heights.