Scale AI's Alexandr Wang Went From MIT Dropout To AI Billionaire — 5 Things You Might Not Know

Alexandr Wang may not be a name familiar to all investors yet, but he is one of the most recognizable names in the artificial intelligence space, thanks to his co-founding of Scale AI and his previous role as CEO.

As Wang steps down from the company and shifts to Meta Platforms META, he may become more recognizable to new investors.

Here's a look at five things you may not know about Wang.

Los Alamos Upbringing: Wang was born in Los Alamos, Mexico as the son of Chinese immigrants who worked as weapons physicists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Los Alamos is, of course, famous for being where the United States developed the atomic bomb during World War II. Wang attended Los Alamos High School before moving to Silicon Valley later.

MIT Dropout: Wang briefly attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one of the most well-known schools in the nation. The now-billionaire planned to study machine learning before dropping out. Wang went on to attend Y Combinator and later launched Scale AI.

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AI Billionaire: Wang co-founded Scale AI with Lucy Guo in 2016 when both entrepreneurs were relatively young. The AI company attracted early investments from Dragoneer Investment Group, Index Ventures and Tiger Global Management. In 2019, Peter Thiel's Founders Fund invested $100 million at a valuation of $1 billion.

In 2024, Scale A landed a $1 billion funding round led by Accel that included investments from many existing investors, including NVIDIA Corporation NVDA. The funding round valued Scale AI at $13.8 billion, helping Wang become a billionaire. Wang owns an estimated 14% of Scale AI and became the world's youngest self-made billionaire. Today, Wang is worth $3.6 billion according to estimates from Forbes.

Transition to Meta: Wang recently announced he was stepping down from his CEO role at Scale AI, but will remain on the board of directors. Wang is transitioning to Meta Platforms, who acquired a 49% stake in the company for $14.3 billion. Wang has been tasked with helping Meta further expand into the AI division and its ‘Superintelligence' lab.

"I'm excited to be the Chief AI Officer of Meta," Wang recently tweeted.

Waiting on Children: The 28-year-old billionaire recently said he was waiting to have children during an appearance on "The Shawn Ryan Show."

"When we get Neuralink and we get these other technologies, kids who are born with them are gonna learn how to use them in like crazy, crazy ways," Wang said.

The Scale AI co-founder said he wants to hold off on children until Neuralink becomes more routine and used in the world, as the first seven years of life offer the best "neuroplastic" potential.

"Your brain is more neuroplastic than at any other point in your life."

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