College dropout dethrones Taylor Swift as youngest billionaire

Move over, Taylor Swift, there’s a new name topping Forbes’ self-made billionaire list, and she didn’t get there by selling out stadiums.

At just 30 years old, Lucy Guo has officially become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, pushing Taylor Swift (who reached billionaire status thanks to her record-shattering Eras Tour) out of the top spot.

Swift, who reportedly raked in over $4 billion from her global tour, was previously crowned the youngest on the Forbes list, with a net worth now sitting around $1.6 billion, Forbes details.

For perspective: her earnings from the Eras Tour alone outpaced the annual GDP of 42 countries. But Guo, a college dropout turned tech mogul, has quietly built a $1.3 billion empire of her own, without a guitar or glitter in sight.

Guo is best known as the co-founder of Scale AI, a data annotation startup that trains artificial intelligence systems using human-labeled data. She launched the company in 2016 alongside Alexandr Wang, who was just 19 at the time. Guo, then 21, led product design and operations, while Wang took on the CEO role.

Though she later exited Scale AI following a reported clash over the company’s direction, Guo still holds a 5% stake, worth about $1.2 billion on its own. Add in her latest venture, a creator monetization platform called Passes, and it’s clear Guo’s portfolio is still growing.

Asked by Forbes how she feels about joining the billionaire club, Guo texted back: “I don’t really think about it much, it’s a bit wild. Too bad it’s all on paper haha.”

Her low-key attitude is hardly a surprise. Guo previously described her upbringing as “incredibly frugal,” telling Fortune that she lived cheaply well into her adult life, right up until she made her first $10 million. Her financial philosophy? Keep it simple and strategic.

“Be frugal and always live below your means,” she said in 2023. “A lot of people up their lifestyles when they start making more money, which causes them to not save as much. The more money you save, the more you can invest, which compounds over the years. Your network is your net worth.”

And that net worth might grow even more. Forbes reports that Scale AI is finalizing a deal that would allow early investors and employees to sell shares to new backers. Translation: Guo’s fortune could be on the verge of another serious bump.

So while Taylor Swift may still be the queen of pop and ticket sales, Lucy Guo is proving that billion-dollar empires can be built just as fast with code, conviction, and a killer exit strategy.