'Act broke, stay rich': world's youngest self-made woman billionaire Lucy Guo behind Scale AI shops at Shein, commutes in a Honda Civic

"I don’t like wasting money," the 30-year-old tells Fortune in an interview published on June 8, adding that most of her clothes are either free or bought from Shein. "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 keeps a few designer dresses on hand for special occasions. In the U.S. she owns a luxury apartment in Miami and a house in Los Angeles, but reportedly avoids cooking and grocery shopping, instead ordering all her meals through delivery app Uber Eats, according to the New York Post. "I still literally buy-one-get-one-free on Uber Eats."

Lucy Guo, world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire. Photo courtesy of her Instagram

Guo, founder and CEO of creator platform Passes, said her frugal lifestyle is guided by a mantra she recently came across: "Act broke, stay rich."

While she occasionally opts for business class on long-haul flights, she says her daily routine is simple.

"My assistant just drives me in a pretty old Honda Civic. I don’t care. No one’s going to look at me and point at me like, ‘Haha, she’s so broke’ when I’m pulling up in a Honda Civic because, whatever, it doesn’t matter."

Her wealth comes from Scale AI, a data-labeling company she co-founded in 2016 with Alexandr Wang, the world’s youngest self-made billionaire.

Although she quit the company in 2018, she retained a 5% stake, which soared in value when the firm was valued at $25 billion in April during a share sale.

According to Forbes, Guo is one of only five self-made female billionaires under the age of 40 and recently surpassed pop star Taylor Swift as the youngest self-made woman billionaire.

Born to Chinese immigrant parents and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Guo began exploring business ventures at a young age. As a teenager, she sold Pokémon cards and created fake streaming sites with ad revenue, Entrepreneur reported.

Despite her wealth she says she maintains a demanding schedule, working at least eight hours a day even while on vacation.

She trains twice daily at Barry’s Bootcamp and is a frequent attendee of techno raves. She told The New York Post in a 2022 interview: "A lot of people don’t like me because, honestly, I seem like an a–hole online. I would not like me on the internet. But I’ve made a lot of friends because I think people appreciate my savage personality."'