Few financial traders might introduce themselves as “Your Rich BFF and favorite Wall Street girly,” but fewer have become social media phenomenons, like Vivian Tu. 

Tu got her start at J.P. Morgan, where she built much of the knowledge she now shares with her nearly seven million followers across Instagram and TikTok. But it was during her following stint, in ad sales at BuzzFeed—more on that transition later—where she came to understand the value of her financial know-how and her ability to articulate it (sans insider jargon) to her peers. Come January 1, 2021, “Your Rich BFF” was born.

Today, Tu’s built a passionate community that looks to her for advice, from the simplest ways to invest for retirement, to understanding how to protect their money when world events cause some panic. She uniquely takes what seems like a gargantuan task—feeling true financial empowerment—and makes it accessible and attainable, communicating it with clarity, from the comfort of a friend who’s sincerely looking out for you.

With “rich” right in her handle, Tu has amassed incredible success as a creator. She’s been recognized on the TIME100 Creators list and Forbes 30 Under 30 and teamed with SoFi to become its first Chief of Financial Empowerment. She hosts the Networth and Chill podcast, appeared on the New York Times best seller list twice with 2023’s #RichAF and 2026’s Well Endowed, and now has an Amazon Prime series in the works. Like a good investor, Tu is diversifying her career and setting herself up for all of the success and wealth—in experiences, happiness, and, yes, money—one could ever want. More than that, she wants this for everyone.

I feel really lucky. I went to the University of Chicago, an incredibly expensive school, and I got a merit scholarship from the university and private scholarships. My parents helped me pay for the remainder, but I knew for a fact that as soon as I had that degree in my hand, I would never be able to ask my parents for money again.

I have always had a passion for helping people and, if money weren't a factor, I'd probably be a social worker. But I wasn't going to be able to sustain the lifestyle that I wanted and, frankly, support my parents in their retirement.

So, junior year rolls around and all of the smart kids—kids who wanted to have lucrative careers—started interviewing for Wall Street jobs. And I said, “Well, if it's good enough for them, it's probably good enough for me.” I started doing the exact same thing…and ultimately, I was lucky enough to get a trading job at J.P. Morgan.

Fashion actually has a lot to do with why I left Wall Street. I had the most amazing manager. She was the only other woman on the team and my style icon. I worked under her for about a year and a half until the head of my desk got let go, and I was rotated to a new manager. That was the beginning of the end. 

With this new manager, I couldn't get anything right. He didn't like how I wore my makeup, how my nails clicked on the keyboard. And I remember this so vividly: I walked into the office with a long cardigan. He looked at me, put his hands together, bowed, and said, “Is that a kimono?” All of a sudden, there was this huge lump in my throat, and all I wanted to do was punch this guy in the face. 

I immediately went and talked to my mentor that night, and told her I was quitting. She said, “You don't have another job lined up, don't you dare." Ultimately, she got me an interview with my soon-to-be first boss at BuzzFeed, who had also come from a finance background at Goldman Sachs. I couldn't tell you what a CPM was. I couldn't tell you what a media buyer was. But she took a flyer on me, assuming  I would work really hard because her friend had said I would. Within three years, I became the top seller at BuzzFeed.

In the very first video, you can hear my voice shake and see my hands shake. I'm terrified. It is very clear that my eyes are darting, and I'm reading a script. 

It was a simple video: “Hey guys, it's the first day of 2021. I'm seeing a lot of really terrible advice going around the internet because we're mid-pandemic. People are starting to get their stimulus checks. I don't want you to squander it, and you have to stop listening to 15-year-olds in their mom's basement. I have worked on Wall Street. I know what I'm talking about. I have made myself a millionaire. Do you want to learn? I can teach you.”

There's no get-rich-quick scheme, and I did not make any promises I couldn't keep. I think that level of brutal honesty actually appealed to people. And to see it coming from a fun, young girl in a little, gray sweater? They felt like I was their best friend from college. I wasn't going to talk down to them. I was a peer.

I have two different types of days. There's a desk day, where no one is going to see me, and I have this running joke called “sweater of the week.” I wear the same hoodie for five days in a row. When I'm really comfortable, I actually get my best work done. 

However, the other type of day is external-facing, when I have interviews, and when I want to present my best. On those days, I’ve been focused on not trying to cosplay a man or a stiff person in a suit, but rather showing up in something that's incredibly well-tailored—not too tight, not too loose, but is perfectly well-suited to me. Something that can speak to the experience, expertise, and gravitas I bring to a room, but also something that's fun. Something that reminds people that I'm a young woman, that my favorite color can be pink, that I get to like polka dots and ruffles, and that I get to make business casual cool again. It's all about just showing up in something that makes me feel confident.

I've noticed that every time I'd actually say no to something, it comes back. I think that [not saying no] comes from a place of scarcity, especially in this line of work.  

I always joke that I'm an NFL player: I get five good years, I take a hit to the knee, and I'm done. But I've done a really good job of diversifying my business. I have built out a social business, a podcast business, a book business, and a television business. I have my own startup venture now. And so my hope is that I have built in a little bit more longevity, and even things that I say no to today—either because I don't want to or I can't—they'll come back next year.

As I got older and went through my own life stages, I realized that I had a lot of money, but I didn't understand what it was all for. It really started to dawn on me when I paid for an all-expenses vacation for my parents. On their way home, they flew into New York and stayed with me for a couple of days; the highlight of their trip was coming to see their daughter, and I had a hard time even carving out three hours to take them to brunch and hang out with them. My mom made a comment: “I wish we could have more time to spend with you.” And it really wounded me in a way. It made me realize: What is the whole point? And that's why Well Endowed is so important. 

Aside from being a crass joke, it describes an endowment. It's a pile of money that's invested and grows over time to help an organization further its mission in perpetuity. And I think all of us deserve to have a big endowment, to all be well-endowed.

When you are well-endowed, you get to make decisions from a place that is not solely focused on money. You get to have time with your family, you get to stop and smell the roses. This whole book breaks down why we are so in love with consumerism, how we brainwash ourselves, and how to make those big purchases that move the needle. How do you actually buy a home if you want one? How do you buy a vehicle that is appropriate for your lifestyle? How do you set kids or pets up for success? And at the very end of the book: why you get to have a wonderful today, but still have the retirement of your dreams?

There are a lot of loopholes that, frankly, people with generational wealth have been learning about since they were young. I didn't get those. I had to be the one to learn about them. And I'm hoping this book will teach a bunch of people in the same position as me how to live their best life, how to live their richest life, and how to pass it on.

Regardless of what is happening in our society or in our government, you will be better off if you have money. In particular, as a woman, it is your duty to be rich. We are one generation into women having the autonomy to open their own credit cards and bank accounts. This happened in my mom's lifetime, not in my grandma's. 

We are told day in and day out that women are shopaholics, we're irresponsible, we're bad with money. All of this narrative, when, in fact, single women own more homes in all 50 states than single men. We have less debt across every single category except for student loans, because we're getting more and more educated. Fidelity looked across a study of portfolio holders and found that, on average, women's portfolios perform better than men's. And we're still being told that we are irresponsible. And if we want money, we're gold diggers. That narrative is disgusting. 

I want every single person who reads this—and especially every single woman: Claim your power. You deserve to be rich because when you have money, you have power, you have options, you have choice.