Lucy Guo becomes youngest self-made female billionaire at 30

Holding nearly 5% of Scale AI, Lucy Guo's stake valuation hit $1.2 billion amid rising company worth

Lucy Guo, co-founder of Scale AI, has become the youngest self-made female billionaire at the age of 30. Although she left the company several years ago, her retained shares have significantly increased in value following a new secondary stock offer valuing the artificial intelligence company at $25 billion.

Early exit, continued equity

Scale AI is currently completing a tender offer that enables early employees and investors to sell their shares to incoming or returning stakeholders. According to sources familiar with the matter, the transaction is expected to close by June 1, pushing the company’s valuation from $13.8 billion in May of last year to $25 billion—an 80% increase within a year.

Despite stepping away from day-to-day operations years ago, Lucy Guo still owns slightly under 5% of Scale AI, with an estimated value of $1.2 billion. Combined with her other holdings, including her stake in her second startup, Passes, Forbes estimates her total net worth to be around $1.25 billion. When contacted by Forbes about her status on the billionaire list, Guo replied, "I don’t think much about it. It’s all paper money which sucks, haha."

Split with co-founder led to new ventures

Guo co-founded Scale AI in 2016 with Alexandr Wang, then just 19 years old, while she was 21. Guo managed operations and product design before leaving the company in 2018 due to internal disagreements. “We had a disagreement,” she stated, “but I’m proud of what Scale AI has accomplished.”

Following her departure, Guo launched Backend Capital, a small venture fund focused on early-stage tech startups. One of her most successful investments was in Ramp, a financial software firm now valued at $13 billion, whose co-founders have also become billionaires.

Creator economy bet: Passes

In 2022, Guo founded Passes, a platform that helps creators and celebrities engage with their fans via paid chats and videos. The service has been compared to platforms like Patreon and OnlyFans. Guo secured deals with high-profile names such as Olivia Dunne, Shaquille O'Neal, and DJ Kygo. Between 2022 and 2024, Passes raised $50 million over three rounds, reaching a company valuation of $150 million. Backers include Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital, Michael Ovitz, and Menlo Ventures.

However, Passes recently faced legal scrutiny. A lawsuit filed in March accused the company of hosting CSAM (Child Sexual Abuse Material). Just prior to the lawsuit, the company banned all underage creators and removed their content. A Passes spokesperson stated the platform “denies approving or turning a blind eye to the publication of underage explicit material.”

From coding in middle school to founding AI unicorns

Born to Chinese immigrant parents and raised in San Francisco, Guo began coding while still in middle school. She studied computer science at Carnegie Mellon University, but dropped out to join the Thiel Fellowship, a program encouraging young entrepreneurs to start companies rather than finish college.

She started her tech career at Quora as a product designer, where she met Alexandr Wang. After a brief stint at Snapchat, the two launched Scale AI, which provides labeled data for machine learning systems, including tools for autonomous vehicles and projects involving the U.S. government and OpenAI.

With her early decision to hold onto equity, a strategic pivot into creator tech, and past investments in fast-growing startups, Lucy Guo now joins a very short list of women under 40 globally who have built billion-dollar fortunes independently.