Investment scams and other sketchy financial schemes are widespread online. Vivian Tu, best known by her online handle Your Rich BFF, is a former Wall Street trader who made it her mission to teach financial literacy. As of 2024, Your Rich BFF has a net worth of $1 million.
Background
Vivian Tu’s parents are Chinese immigrants who came to America so their daughter could receive a first-class education. The family lived in Maryland and she attended Marriotts Ridge High School.
Tu graduated from the University of Chicago with a BA in Environmental Studies and Public Policy, concentrating in Finance. The institution is a hunting ground for Wall Street firms.
Like some of her classmates Tu got a job on Wall Street working in the equities trading department of JP Morgan, an investment banking firm. It’s a tough work environment and Vivian worked long hours to climb the ladder.
Becoming an Influencer
Vivian built an audience through breaking down complex topics to make them digestible to a younger demographic. She made personal finance more relatable to women and those in minority groups like the LGBTQ community.
This type of content earned her around 100,000 followers after her first upload. To capitalize on her following, she started a website, YourRichBFF.com, where she shares her favorite financial tools and reading materials.
These kinds of encounters helped her realize that people need a better financial education. Plus, she noticed the rise of online scammers in stock trading and crypto markets. With this, she started the TikTok account You Rich BFF in 2020.
Online Success
Vivian built an audience through breaking down complex topics to make them digestible a younger demographic. She made personal finance more relatable to women and those in minority groups like the LGBTQ community.
This type of content earned her around 100,000 followers after her first upload. To capatlise on her following, she started a website, YourRichBFF.com, where she shares her favorite financial tools and reading materials.
Vivian created a YouTube channel to help her message reach more people. It currently has over 685,000 subscribers, a far lower count than her 2.5 million followers on TikTok.
Net Worth and Earnings
By March 2022, she was making enough money to quit her job at BuzzFeed and work full-time as a content creator. She set up a company called Your Rich BFF Media, LLC to manage her online business.
In June 2022, she signed a deal with the talent agency WME. Vivian Tu revealed to CNBC she became a millionaire at 27 years old. Thanks to her following, she’s secured sponsorship deals with companies including Google, Meta, SoFi and Lululemon.
Based on nearly 6 million monthly views on YouTube, she makes an estimated $20,000 to $25,000 per month in YouTube ad revenue. In addition, she earns extra money as an Amazon affiliate.
In December 2023, she published a book titled “The Winning Money Mindset That Will Change Your Life”, it’s already a New York Times bestseller. Although the royalties from book sales aren’t amazing, it will help her build a stronger brand in the long term.
Personal Life
In the early days, Vivian Tu wasn’t vocal about her relationship status and wanted to keep it private. Recently, she’s been more open. Tu revealed in an interview with CNBC that in a relationship with a guy for over six years. She also stated, they never argue about money and are open about their finances.
