Taylor Swift may still be the world’s richest female musician, but she’s no longer the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire. The 14-time Grammy winner, who had held the distinction since Forbes declared her a billionaire in late 2023, was dethroned by Lucy Guo, the 30-year-old founder of Scale AI. According to the financial outlet, the booming new artificial intelligence company, which was founded nine years ago, is currently finalizing a tender offer that will allow early employees and investors to sell shares to new or returning investors. That deal has imparted a value of $25 billion, a huge jump from the $13.8 billion valuation it had achieved last May.
Guo co-founded Scale AI in 2016 before departing the company in 2018, reportedly because of a disagreement with co-founder Alexandr Wang. However, she retained a substantial stake that’s estimated to be just under 5 percent, which would now be worth nearly $1.2 billion at the latest valuation. Additionally, Guo maintains a holding in Passes, a platform she founded in 2022 that aims to help content creators monetize their work. Altogether, Forbes estimates her net worth to be approximately $1.25 billion. “I don’t really think about it much, it’s a bit wild,” Guo told Forbes via text message in response to the new title. “Too bad it’s all on paper haha.”
As for Swift, she’s maintained a relatively low public profile since the conclusion of the monumental Eras Tour in late 2024. The historic string of performances has only helped Swift stack cash and achieve a most recent estimated net worth of $1.6 billion. With regard to the world’s richest musicians, man or woman, she’s second only to Jay-Z, who boasts a net worth of $2.5 billion.
