A Chinese-American woman becomes world’s youngest self-made billionaire

Lucy Gu, the AI ​​entrepreneur and college graduate and co-founder of ScaleAI, has reached a net worth of $1.3 billion, surpassing Taylor Swift, Rihanna, and Selena Gomez on Forbes’ list of self-made billionaires.

Lucy Gu, the 30-year-old tech entrepreneur and co-founder of the artificial intelligence company ScaleAI, has officially become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, according to the latest Forbes list. With a net worth of $1.3 billion, she has overtaken pop star Taylor Swift, who had held the record since 2023.

Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area to Chinese immigrant parents, Gu began learning to code while still in middle school. She then dropped out of Carnegie Mellon University after winning the prestigious $100,000 Thiel Scholarship, which encourages young people to pursue entrepreneurial ventures rather than college degrees. Gu co-founded ScaleAI with Alexander Wang when she was just 21 years old.

Although she was later ousted from the company after a falling out with her co-founder, she retained her 5% stake—a stake currently worth hundreds of millions at the company’s recent $25 billion valuation. Despite her modest public presence, Gu is known in Silicon Valley for combining an intense work ethic with a lavish social life, challenging the stereotypes of both tech CEOs and billionaires.