Lucy Liu 

As cofounder and president of Airwallex, Lucy Liu propelled the Australian-born fintech from a bold idea to a global powerhouse. In 2015, at just 25 and a scant few years out of the University of Melbourne, Liu wrote a $1 million seed check over dinner to launch what would become a cross-border payments platform now serving 150,000 businesses in 150 countries. Over the past decade, Airwallex has grown into one of the world’s most valuable private fintechs. In May 2025 it raised $300 million at a valuation of $6.2 billion, with $720 million in annualized revenue and more than $130 billion in yearly transaction volume. Liu helped drive that growth through sharp product expansion and AI-powered efficiencies, deftly navigating regulatory hurdles and geopolitical currents. With an IPO in sight for 2026, she has stressed that going public won’t mark the peak of Airwallex’s success but rather “the starting point of a new journey.”