Vivian Tu did not hold back when writing the opening pages of her 2023 bestseller, Rich AF. Among her acknowledgments, the millionaire businesswoman included a direct message to her former boss — “To the man who told me I was too girly to ever succeed in finance: F---. You,” she wrote.
Who is Vivian Tu?
Vivian Tu is an American businesswoman and media personality. She is the founder and CEO of Your Rich BFF, a multi-media company that provides financial education.
Tu started her career as a junior trader on Wall Street at JPMorgan before moving into media sales at BuzzFeed. In 2021, she began posting financial education videos on TikTok under the brand Your Rich BFF.
She built a massive following, landed on The New York Times bestseller list and the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and became a millionaire by age 27, according to CNBC.
She now runs her financial education brand full-time.
The power of spite
Tu credits spite as a primary motivator for her early achievements. During an interview with Ellevest CEO Sylvia Kwan for CNBC Make It, Tu said she shaped her goal of being “so conventionally successful” specifically to “spite a hater or spite someone who didn’t believe in me.”
It was perhaps this spite that drove her to dedicate her first book to a bad boss.
{{/usCountry}}It was perhaps this spite that drove her to dedicate her first book to a bad boss.
{{/usCountry}}According to Tu, at JPMorgan, she worked under mentor Jean Mah until she was reassigned to a new manager. The manager criticized her on a personal level. Among other things, the manager said that she did not belong in finance based on the way she looked.
Ready to resign on the spot, Tu spoke with Mah, who advised her to secure a new job first. Mah introduced her to a contact at BuzzFeed. Tu accepted a position in media sales, an industry where she had no experience, and made a huge success of it.
In her final year at BuzzFeed, she earned $625,000 through commissions. It was while working at BuzzFeed that she started making TikTok videos. Once brand sponsorship deals made full-time content creation viable, she resigned from sales to focus on Your Rich BFF.
On redefining success
Tu acknowledged that her early focus on status and lists came from “a place of deep insecurity.” Over time, her perspective changed. She now views her hard work as a way to honor her immigrant parents, who sacrificed comfort so she could succeed in the United States She recently bought them an all-expenses-paid anniversary vacation.
Her definition of success has also shifted away from purely numeric goals. Speaking with CNBC Make It, Tu said, “Now, though not to say that I’m self-actualized, but I do feel like I am a more confident, wiser version of younger Viv.”
She now measures success by doing meaningful work each day, adding that her 20-something self "would look at me and not even recognize who this woman is."