Lucy Guo (30): Billionaire founder building creator subscription platform
Lucy Guo, in her early 30s, co-founded Scale AI and is now leading Passes Inc.—a platform helping influencers earn steady income from fan subscriptions.
Passes, launched in late 2022, lets creators share exclusive content and interact directly with fans, competing with sites like Patreon and OnlyFans.
Guo started coding at Carnegie Mellon
Guo started coding at Carnegie Mellon but left after winning a Thiel Fellowship in 2014.
She co-founded Scale AI (later selling a big stake to Meta for $14.3 billion), became a billionaire from her shares, then launched Passes to give creators smarter tools like AI-powered content testing.
Passes has paid out tens of millions to creators
Passes has already paid out tens of millions to thousands of creators, focusing on regular earnings instead of unpredictable brand deals.
Guo's goal: help influencers turn their creativity into real income with better resources.
Legal challenges and new creator perks
In 2024, Passes raised $40 million. The company has discussed offering new creator perks like health insurance but faced legal challenges over content theft and underage users—claims Guo firmly denies.
Despite this, she says Passes is profitable and plans to take it public eventually.