Founder worth $1.3 billion still shops at Shein, drives old Honda: ‘I don’t like wasting money’
Lucy Guo, co-founder of Scale AI and college dropout, emphasizes thriftiness despite billionaire status.
At 30, Lucy Guo has dethroned Taylor Swift as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire. Despite her staggering net worth – Forbes estimates it to be $1.3 billion – this 30-year-old college dropout does not believe in wasting money.
In fact, Lucy tells Fortune that her wardrobe is dominated by free clothes or fast fashion - barring the odd designer dress. She still drives a Honda Civic and flies commercial.
“I don’t like wasting money,” the 30-year-old told Fortune.
Who is Lucy Guo? And what is the source of her wealth?
Lucy Guo is an American social media influencer and co-founder of Scale AI. She founded the company in 2016 and was fired two years later following a disagreement with co-founder and CEO Alexandr Wang.
Lucy was just 21 when she launched the AI startup. A computer science student at Carnegie Mellon, she had dropped out of college and interned with Facebook before she built Scale AI.
Despite being fired, Guo retained an estimated 5% stake in Scale AI. It is this stake that gives her her status as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at age 30.
Lucy Guo on wearing Shein
{{/usCountry}}Despite being fired, Guo retained an estimated 5% stake in Scale AI. It is this stake that gives her her status as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at age 30.
Lucy Guo on wearing Shein
{{/usCountry}}“Everything I wear is free or from Shein,” Guo, now the founder of OnlyFans competitor Passes, told Fortune.
{{/usCountry}}“Everything I wear is free or from Shein,” Guo, now the founder of OnlyFans competitor Passes, told Fortune.
{{/usCountry}}“Some of them aren’t going to be that great quality, but there’s always like two pieces or so that really work out, and I just wear them every day,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}“Some of them aren’t going to be that great quality, but there’s always like two pieces or so that really work out, and I just wear them every day,” she added.
{{/usCountry}}Her thriftiness does not end at clothes - this Miami and Los Angeles-based billionaire still drives an old Honda Civic and doesn’t believe in private jets. If it’s a long flight, Guo does splurge on a business class ticket.
{{/usCountry}}Her thriftiness does not end at clothes - this Miami and Los Angeles-based billionaire still drives an old Honda Civic and doesn’t believe in private jets. If it’s a long flight, Guo does splurge on a business class ticket.
{{/usCountry}}“I still literally buy buy-one-get-one-free on Uber Eats… in terms of like daily life, my assistant just drives me in a pretty old Honda Civic. I don’t care,” she says.
“Who you see typically wasting money on, designer clothes, a nice car, et cetera, they’re technically in the millionaire range,” Guo explains. “All their friends are multimillionaires, or billionaires and they feel a little bit insecure, so they feel the need to be flashy to show other people, ‘look, I’m successful.’”
