The unknown Brazilian woman who dethroned Taylor Swift and became the world's youngest self-made billionaire! š§š·
Luana Lopes Lara - 29 years old - broke the global record!
Born in Brazil and a former Bolshoi ballerina, she surpassed celebrities like Taylor Swift and Kylie Jenner on the list of self-made billionaires.
Her company, Kalshi, reached a value of US$11 billion this week.
The story is surreal!
Kalshi, founded by the Brazilian Luana Pinheiro and Tarek Mansour, raised US$1 billion in a new funding round led by Paradigm.
Its valuation multiplied by 5x in just 6 months.
With approximately 12% of the company, Luana's net worth jumped to US$1.3 billion.
Origin in Brazil: The Double Life
The story begins in Santa Catarina.
Luana had an insane routine:
ā¢ Morning: Academic classes (won gold in the Brazilian Astronomy Olympiad).
ā¢ Afternoon/Evening: Brutal training at the Bolshoi Theatre School in Brazil
From Austria to MIT: The Great Turning Point
After high school, she went to Austria to work as a professional ballerina at the Salzburg theater ("Swan Lake").
But the dream of being "the next Steve Jobs" prevailed.
After 9 months in Europe, she hung up her ballet shoes, moved to the USA, and was accepted to MIT to study Computer Science.
The Thesis: Negotiating the Future
At MIT, he met co-founder Tarek Mansour.
The idea for Kalshi was born during walks through New York City, when they were interning in the financial market.
The thesis: "Why invest in stocks affected by elections, if we can directly negotiate the election outcome?"
Kalshi vs. Polymarket: What's the difference?
Think of Kalshi as an "Institutional Polymarket".
Both allow trading in future events (like elections).
The difference?
ā¢ Polymarket: Operates in crypto/blockchain (grey area).
ā¢ Kalshi: Chose the hard path: being 100% regulated and integrated into the American banking system.
She sued the US government (and won)
The Brazilian company chose the harder path: regulation.
Kalshi sued the CFTC (the US derivatives regulator) to legalize betting on elections.
The market thought it was crazy to challenge the state.
She won and became the first legal platform of its kind in 100 years.
Volume Explosion
The legal victory changed the game:
ā¢ Trading volume jumped 8x since July.
ā¢ In November, it moved US$ 5.8 billion.
ā¢ It is already integrated with brokers like Robinhood.
Investors say that the resilience of the ballet ("hearing no and continuing") was the key to overcoming the bureaucracy.