November 4, 2026
As a teenager, Luana Lopes Lara studied ballet at the Bolshoi Theater School in Brazil. Competition was cutthroat; students sometimes tried to sabotage each other by hiding glass fragments in each other’s shoes. She attended technical school in the morning, then went to ballet training from the afternoon to the night.
“Since I was very little, I wanted to do big things,” Lopes Lara said in a recent episode of the podcast Confession with Ali Partovi.
That discipline laid the foundation for Lopes Lara’s later success. Now, at 30 years old, the entrepreneur is the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, unseating pop star Taylor Swift and tech billionaire Lucy Guo in December 2025 to claim the title. Lopes Lara has a net worth of $2.6 billion, according to Forbes.
She made her fortune by co-founding Kalshi, a prediction market exchange where users can buy and sell yes-or-no contracts based on real-world future events, such as elections, economic data, weather and sports. Lopes Lara is working towards a future where people can essentially bet on anything.
Kalshi is “the first federally regulated exchange in the United States dedicated exclusively to trading on the outcomes of future events,” according to its site.
Read on to see the common startup trap to watch out for
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Laura Taylor returned from her trip and began working on a business plan.
Daniel Lubetzky changed the snack industry with his company KIND Snacks. Now he’s betting those same instincts can transform how Americans think about breathing.
KIND Snacks Founder Daniel Lubetzky Invests $62 Million — In a Nasal Strip Company
Around the Internet
Here’s what else we’re reading this week
- Inside the minds of successful business owners (Business Insider)
- In-N-Out is expanding in-n-out of California (Morning Brew)
- A 5-word phrase you use all year could tank your performance review (CNBC)
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