Move over, Taylor Swift! The pop diva has been dethroned from her status as the youngest self-made billionaire woman by a 30-year-old serial entrepreneur named Lucy Guo. As per a Forbes report, this milestone aligns with a major financial development at her previous startup, Scale AI. The artificial intelligence powerhouse is approaching the finalization of a tender offer scheduled for June 1.
This deal provides early staff and initial backers the opportunity to cash out some of their holdings, valuing the nine-year-old enterprise at an impressive $25 billion—an 80% leap from its $13.8 billion valuation recorded only a year ago in May.
Scale AI, which Guo co-founded in 2016, operates behind the scenes of the AI industry, specializing in the annotation and organization of data used to develop machine learning models. It’s often likened to providing the “picks and shovels” of the AI boom. Its high-profile clientele includes the U.S. federal government and leading AI research firm OpenAI.
Guo's ascent mirrors the quintessential Silicon Valley narrative. A first-generation Chinese-American, she grew up in the tech-centric Bay Area and began programming while still in middle school, according to Forbes. She briefly attended Carnegie Mellon University before dropping out to accept the Thiel Fellowship—a program created by tech billionaire Peter Thiel that grants $100,000 to ambitious young entrepreneurs willing to skip or leave college.
Her early professional journey included a stint at Quora, where she crossed paths with her eventual Scale AI co-founder, Alexandr Wang. A short-lived role at Snapchat followed before the duo launched Scale AI in 2016. Guo eventually stepped away from Scale to branch out into new business endeavors. She founded Backend Capital, a venture capital firm, and made early investments in high-growth startups like Ramp, which have since reached billion-dollar valuations.
In 2022, she launched Passes, a digital content platform offering subscription-based services similar to OnlyFans and Patreon. The platform has drawn celebrities such as gymnast Olivia Dunne, NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal, and music producer Kygo. Over three years, Passes successfully raised $50 million in funding and is currently valued at $150 million.
India's Ritesh Agarwal shares a similar path. Also a Thiel Fellow, he created Oravel Stays in 2012—a low-cost lodging portal that evolved into OYO in 2013. That same year, he was awarded the Thiel Fellowship’s $100,000 grant. In 2016, OYO absorbed the team behind Qlik Pass to enhance its data science capabilities. As of 2025, OYO’s valuation exceeds $4 billion.
This deal provides early staff and initial backers the opportunity to cash out some of their holdings, valuing the nine-year-old enterprise at an impressive $25 billion—an 80% leap from its $13.8 billion valuation recorded only a year ago in May.
Scale AI, which Guo co-founded in 2016, operates behind the scenes of the AI industry, specializing in the annotation and organization of data used to develop machine learning models. It’s often likened to providing the “picks and shovels” of the AI boom. Its high-profile clientele includes the U.S. federal government and leading AI research firm OpenAI.
Guo's ascent mirrors the quintessential Silicon Valley narrative. A first-generation Chinese-American, she grew up in the tech-centric Bay Area and began programming while still in middle school, according to Forbes. She briefly attended Carnegie Mellon University before dropping out to accept the Thiel Fellowship—a program created by tech billionaire Peter Thiel that grants $100,000 to ambitious young entrepreneurs willing to skip or leave college.
Her early professional journey included a stint at Quora, where she crossed paths with her eventual Scale AI co-founder, Alexandr Wang. A short-lived role at Snapchat followed before the duo launched Scale AI in 2016. Guo eventually stepped away from Scale to branch out into new business endeavors. She founded Backend Capital, a venture capital firm, and made early investments in high-growth startups like Ramp, which have since reached billion-dollar valuations.
In 2022, she launched Passes, a digital content platform offering subscription-based services similar to OnlyFans and Patreon. The platform has drawn celebrities such as gymnast Olivia Dunne, NBA icon Shaquille O’Neal, and music producer Kygo. Over three years, Passes successfully raised $50 million in funding and is currently valued at $150 million.
India's Ritesh Agarwal shares a similar path. Also a Thiel Fellow, he created Oravel Stays in 2012—a low-cost lodging portal that evolved into OYO in 2013. That same year, he was awarded the Thiel Fellowship’s $100,000 grant. In 2016, OYO absorbed the team behind Qlik Pass to enhance its data science capabilities. As of 2025, OYO’s valuation exceeds $4 billion.
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