Luana Lopes Lara becomes world's youngest self-made billionaire

Luana Lopes Lara, a 30-year-old co-founder of the prediction market platform Kalshi, has been identified by Forbes as the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, with a net worth of $2.6 billion.

Lopes Lara’s professional background is unconventional; she previously trained as a professional ballerina at the Brazilian campus of the Bolshoi Theatre School. She credits the intense physical and psychological discipline required by ballet—often involving eight-hour training days—as foundational to her success in the financial sector.

Kalshi operates as a prediction market that allows users to speculate on real-world events, such as weather patterns or US presidential election outcomes. While Lopes Lara describes the platform as a form of asset trading similar to stock markets, the venture has sparked debate due to its nature as a betting-style marketplace that facilitates the movement of billions of dollars.