Taylor Swift loses billionaire title to AI entrepreneur
Taylor Swift, the global pop icon who’s dominated charts and bank accounts alike, has been dethroned as the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire. On April 17, Forbes crowned 30-year-old Lucy Guo, co-founder of San Francisco’s Scale AI, as the new titleholder, bumping Swift, 35, from a spot she’d held since 2023.
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With Swift’s net worth at $1.6 billion, thanks to her record-shattering Eras Tour and music catalog, Guo’s $1.25 billion fortune-fueled by a skyrocketing AI startup-stole the spotlight. This shift, far from the music world, has fans and tech enthusiasts buzzing on social media.
Guo, a college dropout who launched Scale AI at 21 with Alexandr Wang, saw her wealth soar as the company’s valuation hit $25 billion, an 80% jump from $13.8 billion in May 2024. “I don’t really think about it much, it’s a bit wild,” Guo texted Forbes, laughing off her “on paper” billions tied to a nearly 5% stake she kept after leaving Scale in 2018.
Swift, by contrast, built her empire through music, earning $600 million from royalties and touring, $600 million from her catalog, and $125 million in real estate, per Forbes. “She’s the first musician to hit billionaire status solely from songs and performances,” a Forbes analyst noted.
The handover’s got a twist-Guo’s a Swiftie. In April 2024, she posted on X about meeting Swift and Travis Kelce at Coachella, captioning it, “Met Taylor Swift, danced with Rihanna all night, took over Coachella.” No bad blood here, it seems.
Guo’s journey, from coding in middle school to a Thiel Fellowship, mirrors Swift’s hustle, just in Silicon Valley’s arena. Her stake in Scale, plus her new ventures like Passes-a creator platform with stars like Olivia Dunne and Shaquille O’Neal-pushed her over the billion mark.
Swift’s still a titan, outranking Guo’s wealth and holding the richest female musician title over Rihanna’s $1.4 billion. Her Eras Tour, grossing over $2 billion across 149 sold-out shows, set records as the highest-grossing tour ever, per The New York Times. Guo’s win, though, highlights tech’s rising power, with Scale AI’s data-labeling for clients like Tesla fueling her ascent. Posts on X debate the “self-made” label, with some arguing Guo’s stake from a company she left isn’t quite the same as Swift’s grind. Either way, both women are redefining what success looks like, from stadiums to startups.
