'Act broke, stay rich' — billionaire Lucy Guo’s unlikely flex

In Silicon Valley, where dreams are coded and fortunes are forged, Lucy Guo was living a life that sparkled brighter than the neon lights of a Coachella afterparty.

With a net worth today of $1.3 billion, Lucy Guo, 30, just dethroned pop icon Taylor Swift as the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, a title that felt as surreal to her, as per CNBC.

A relentless hustle, a 5:30 am wake-up call, and a knack for turning playground trades into tech empires.

Lucy’s story began in Fremont, California, where her Chinese immigrant parents, both electrical engineers, instilled a frugal mindset.

As a kid, she was already a mini-mogul, flipping Pokémon cards and coloured pencils on the playground like a Wall Street trader.

By second grade, she’d mastered PayPal, sneaking around her parents’ strict rules to stash her earnings online.

“They’d take my cash as punishment,” she’d later laugh, “so I went digital!” By her teens, she was coding bots for Neopets, selling virtual assets for real-world profit — a foreshadowing of the empire she’d build.

Fast forward to 2016, when Lucy, then just 21, co-founded Scale AI with Alexandr Wang, a math prodigy she met at Quora, an online question-and-answer (Q&A) platform and a knowledge market where users can ask questions, share their knowledge, and learn from others' experiences and expertise

The San Francisco-based startup, which labelled data to train AI systems, became a cornerstone of the AI boom, powering tech giants like OpenAI and Tesla, as and bagging contracts with the US Department of Defence (DoD).

But in 2018, a clash of visions led to her ousting.

“We had a difference of opinion,” Lucy said, her voice steady but proud, “but I’m thrilled with what Scale has achieved.”

She held onto her 5% stake, a decision that would make her a billionaire when Meta invested $14.8 billion for a 49% share in Scale AI in June 2025, pushing the company’s valuation to a jaw-dropping $29 billion.

That stake alone was worth $1.25 billion, cementing her status as a tech titan.

But Lucy wasn’t one to rest on her laurels — or her billions. In 2022, she launched Passes, a platform to empower creators like Olivia Dunne and Shaquille O’Neal to monetise their fanbases through subscriptions and exclusive content.

With $65 million raised from investors like Mary Meeker’s Bond Capital, Passes was valued at $150 million by 2024, blending the vibes of Patreon and OnlyFans with a tech-savvy twist.

Guo’s real estate game is straight out of a Monopoly board with a billionaire twist. She just snapped up a glittering Hollywood Hills mansion overlooking the Sunset Strip for nearly $30 million.

Not stopping there, she also keeps a $6.7 million Florida condo in her back pocket (bought in 2021) and a chic farmhouse-style LA home she scooped up in 2024 for $4.2 million.

Yet, controversy shadowed her success.

A 2025 lawsuit accused Passes of hosting underage content, which Lucy fiercely denied, pointing to the platform’s preemptive ban on underage creators.

“We’re about empowerment, not exploitation,” she declared, her focus unwavering.

Lucy’s daily routine was the stuff of legend — or nightmares, depending on who you asked.

Up at 5:30 am, she’d hit Barry’s Bootcamp for back-to-back workouts, her mantra “Discipline > Sleep” emblazoned across her Instagram.

Breakfast? Skipped.

Lunch? Nonexistent.

She’d work until midnight, answering emails even during weekend getaways to Miami, where her $6.7 million condo hosted parties wild enough to irk neighbours like David Beckham.

Her philosophy echoed China’s 996 work culture — 9 am to 9 pm, six days a week.

Grind culture

“If you need work-life balance, maybe you’re in the wrong job,” she told CNBC, sparking a firestorm of debate.

Mental health advocates weren’t amused.

“Pushing 90-hour workweeks as a blueprint for success is reckless,” argued Dr. Maya Chen, a psychologist specialising in burnout.

“It glorifies grind culture and ignores the toll on mental and physical health.”

Seasoned entrepreneurs like Sarah Kline, a startup veteran, chimed in: “Hustle is vital, but sustainability matters more. Lucy’s young — she’ll learn balance isn’t the enemy.”

Yet, Lucy’s fans, especially young founders, saw her as a beacon of ambition.

“She’s proof you can outwork everyone and win,” posted a Reddit user on r/asianamerican, though others called her lifestyle a “glorified burnout recipe.”

Despite her billionaire status, Lucy stayed frugal, driving a 2011 Honda Civic and shopping at Shein.

“Act broke, stay rich,” she’d say, admitting to tricks like booking flights just for free airport lounge meals.

But splurges weren’t off the table — business class for 16-hour flights and a $4.2 million LA farmhouse were her guilty pleasures.

“I’m still that kid trading Pokémon cards,” she told Fortune. “Money doesn’t change who you are.”

As Lucy stood on her West Hollywood rooftop, sipping a protein shake and eyeing the city skyline, she wasn’t just a billionaire — she was a force redefining success.

Whether scaling AI or throwing star-studded Passes parties, Lucy Guo was living proof that in the tech world’s wild west, a relentless dreamer could strike gold.

But as the debate over her 90-hour workweek raged on, one question lingered: could her empire endure without burning out its brightest star?