At just 29 years old, Brazilian Luana Lopes Lara made history by becoming the youngest self-made female billionaire, according to Forbes magazine. Co-founder of Kalshi, a legal online betting platform, she embodies a new generation of disruptive female entrepreneurs.
From classical dance to MIT: an extraordinary journey
Born in Brazil to a modest family—a mother who was a mathematics teacher and a father who was an engineer—Luana Lopes Lara initially pursued a career as a professional ballerina in Austria. She changed course by enrolling at the prestigious MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an American research institute and university specializing in science and technology), where she met her future business partner, Tarek Mansour. Together, they completed a trading internship in New York, an experience that inspired Kalshi: a legal prediction platform for real-world events.
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Kalshi: Betting on current events legally
Founded in 2021, Kalshi allows users to bet on real-world events—weather, elections, Oscar results—through an infrastructure regulated by the CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission). In just a few months, the platform experienced explosive growth: a fivefold increase in trading volume and a valuation of $11 billion. Luana and Tarek each own 12% of the company, representing an estimated fortune of $1.3 billion.
A success without inheritance or networks
Luana Lopes Lara had no initial capital or privileged network. Coming from a modest background, she forged her path through merit, innovation, and vision. Kalshi is revolutionizing the world of prediction markets by making them accessible to the general public, where they were once reserved for a financial elite. The platform's success accelerated, particularly after the US elections, which triggered a surge in registrations.
A generational figure, a symbol of a more inclusive tech industry
In 2025, Luana enters the Forbes list of the world's richest people, surpassing iconic figures like American engineer Lucy Guo (Scale AI) and even singer Taylor Swift. With Kalshi, 2 million users, and billions of dollars in transactions, she becomes a role model for an entire generation of women in tech. Her journey—from the dance stage to the heights of finance—embodies a new entrepreneurial vision, far removed from the traditional standards of inherited capitalism.
Luana Lopes Lara's career powerfully illustrates that audacity, curiosity, and perseverance can redefine the rules of success, even in historically closed sectors. By building Kalshi at the intersection of technology, finance, and regulation, Luana Lopes Lara did more than simply create a billion-dollar company; she paved the way for a new, more accessible, and more inclusive way of doing business.
