This AI Founder Is The World's Youngest Self-Made Female Billionaire. Plus: The Surprising Fact That Boosts Women's Competitive Spirit

Forbes

18-04-2025

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In 1941, Indian artist Amrita Sher-Gil died, mysteriously, at the age of 28. An accomplished painter who helped pioneer modern Indian art, Sher-Gil has been mostly lost to history. But she serves as the inspiration for a new novel from Alka Joshi, the bestselling author of the Henna Artist trilogy and someone you may recognize from her time on the Forbes 50 Over 50 list.
'I got a B.A. in art history and I'd never heard of this woman before,' Joshi said in an interview about her new book, Six Days in Bombay, with me and Mika Brzezinski for Morning Joe earlier this week. 'I think if she'd lived beyond the age of 28, we *would* know who she is.'
Joshi and I continued talking after the cameras stopped rolling and she told me that she wants the ForbesWomen audience, in particular, to understand that Sher-Gil 'was a woman who was so convinced of her own value, that she didn't care what other people thought' She had 'something to say about the empowerment of women in the south of India who do not get a chance to make their own decisions in life. And she conveyed all of that through her art.'
Six Days in Bombay is a fictional take on Sher-Gil's life, but like most of Joshi's work, the book contains very real themes of female independence and financial power. 'It's always intentional on my part to say that if a woman makes a decision—good, bad, whatever we feel about it— we have to think about the decision she made for herself' and why she made that decision, Joshi said of how she considers depicting her female characters and their choices.
When I told her that it felt like a lot of the women in her books are seeking financial independence, Joshi said this, too, is intentional. 'If we want financial independence for ourselves, we have to support other women who are trying to also obtain their own financial independence,' Joshi said, noting that these efforts are equally important in fiction and in real life. 'It's not just about us. We have to support the entire network of women who are trying to create that life for themselves.'
Cheers to that!
P.S.: Speaking of the 50 Over 50: Don't forget that nominations for the 2025 U.S. 50 Over 50 list are now open! Head to this link here to tell us about a woman you think should be on this year's list. Full nominations criteria are on that page but the two most important bits to remember: We're looking for people who were born in 1974 or earlier, and we're looking for women who have never been on the list before, because we don't allow repeats!
Jamel Toppin for Forbes
Lucy Guo is one of just six self-made female billionaires on the planet under the age of 40. She's also the only one who's made the bulk of her fortune from a company she left years ago. Guo cofounded artificial intelligence firm Scale AI in 2016; after leaving the company in 2018, she astutely held on to most of her stake while pursuing her next startup. Guo still owns an estimated stake of just under 5% of Scale AI worth nearly $1.2 billion. Add in her other assets—including her holding in her second startup, Passes—and she's worth $1.25 billion, Forbes estimates. 'I don't really think about it much, it's a bit wild. Too bad it's all on paper haha,' says Guo via text in response to her new billionaire status.
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Speaking of new books, billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates is out with a new memoir that shares previously untold stories that she hopes will provide guidance for others on how to make the most of life's transitions. French Gates spoke with ForbesWomen contributor Marianne Schnall about what she wants people to learn from this memoir.
This week we released the 2025 Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list, a collection of founders and game-changers who are building the future while navigating a global trade war, a live war in Ukraine, and the whiplash of generative AI ripping up rules of work, creativity, and capitalism in real time. Europe's U30 Class of 2025 includes actors like Ella Purnell, social entrepreneur Lisa Oberaigner and healthcare founder Felicia von Reden; check out the full list here!
Elon Musk has long claimed civilization will collapse unless we raise the birth rate. Meanwhile, his 'DOGE' group is slashing billions in funding for pregnant and nursing mothers and their children. It suspended more than $27 million in grants to women's health centers, laid off federal workers running programs for expecting mothers on Medicaid, and cancelled $1.6 million in funding for maternal and postpartum care at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. Read the full Forbes analysis here.
When Commissioner Cathy Engelbert called Paige Bueckers' name with the first overall pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft earlier this week, there wasn't a surprised face in the room. The announcement came on the heels of Bueckers' winning the NCAA tournament less than two weeks ago, making her the first player since Breanna Stewart in 2016 to go No. 1 and win the national championship in the same year.
1. If you aspire to small business ownership, skip the MBA. That degree will cost you $300,000 or more, counting lost earnings. Worth it, if you want to climb the corporate ladder. Not so much, if you're looking to buy or build most small businesses. Here's why.
2. Talk about the gender gap and boost a friend's competitive spirit. Despite being just as qualified as their male counterparts, women are significantly less likely to compete at work—whether that means applying for executive roles, asking for promotions, or negotiating higher pay. The result is a persistent gender competition gap that keeps women from advancing at the same rate as men. However, new research reveals that simply informing women of this gender gap boosts their willingness to compete.
3. Learn to navigate loss in the workplace. We don't often talk about grief in professional spaces, but we should. Whether you're managing a team or building a business, your ability to sit with hard emotions, tolerate ambiguity, and stay grounded in uncertainty is the exact skill set you need to lead with empathy, clarity, and integrity.
A likely sign of today's uncertain times, a TikTok trend #probablyneededahug currently making the rounds is actually based on endocrine science showing that physical hugs lead to an increase in the so-called 'cuddle hormone.' Which of these 'happiness' hormones is most associated with warm, social feelings?