At 22, Olympic skier Eileen Gu is worth over $20 million. She’s juggling brand deals and sports with school. And she urges Gen Z not to wait until they’re ‘older’ to start

At age 22, Eileen Gu is one of the best freestyle skiers in the world—amassing four Olympic medals to her name. She’s also a student at Stanford University studying international relations, currently on leave for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympic Games.

But instead of waiting to earn a degree to get her career off the ground, she’s dived in headfirst. Gu pulled in $23.1 million last year alone, according to Forbes, making her the fourth-highest-paid woman in sports, ahead of stars like Naomi Osaka and Caitlin Clark. 

“It’s important to show young people that you don’t have to wait until you’re older. You can do it all now,” Gu told Time. 

At a time when success can feel unreachable for Gen Z, owing to uncertainty brought by AI and the economy—Gu’s mantra is straightforward: Age is not a limitation. Start that side hustle sooner rather than later. 

It’s something she learned firsthand: Gu’s financial windfalls are largely not from winning competitions and setting world records; it’s from her balancing her self-branding and modeling career. She’s landed deals with companies like Red Bull, Porsche, and TCL.

“I’m a full-time student who’s really athletic,” she said. “I can have a conversation with a physicist and stand my ground, and I can also walk a runway show the next day. I think that is pretty revolutionary, especially as a young person. Because the whole multi-hyphenate thing often happens in different stages in life.”

And Gu is just one example of the juggling act many Olympic athletes face, trying to achieve their own version of success. Many athletes have full-time jobs—working as realtors, dentists, and baristas—waiting for them back home.

The Gen Z millionaire Olympic athlete started at 3 years old: By her teens, she was covering her own school bills

Gu’s drive toward independence began early. She was born in San Francisco and raised by her mother, a first-generation Chinese immigrant, and was out on the slopes by age 3. By the time she was a teenager, Gu was earning enough from brand endorsements to cover her private high school tuition.

“I was able to pay for my own tuition from my freshman year of high school onwards,” Gu said on The Burnouts podcast, cohosted by Bill Gates’ daughter Phoebe Gates. “That was a point of pride for me.”

She emerged onto the global stage after winning one silver and two gold medals at the Beijing Olympics in 2022; Gu admitted that she initially equated success with recognition—the idea that achievement validated the work.

“It meant doing something for a purpose and having that purpose spread beyond myself,” she told Vogue Hong Kong. “For example, I wanted to win a competition because that was the culmination of all the moments I’d put into it initially, which was something bigger than me.”

The emotional aftermath of the Games forced a rethink. Gu has spoken publicly about struggling with her mental health in the years that followed.

“I always wanted to leave no matter what situation I was in,” Gu said. “I wanted to go home when I was out, and I wanted to go to sleep when I was awake. I never felt like I was where I was meant to be.”

And her grueling schedule didn’t help. Gu often uses long-haul flights to keep up with academic coursework, “I haven’t watched a movie on a plane in years,” she said to Time. And her schedule can veer from collegiate normalcy to global celebrity in a matter of hours.

During one two-week stretch in 2023, she attended a Stanford sorority formal, walked for Victoria’s Secret in Barcelona the next night, and appeared at a Louis Vuitton show in Italy three days later. Gu then headed back to the U.S. for a friend’s surprise party before briefly flying to Paris for a nobility ball and returning to California to serve as graduation speaker for a K–8 girls’ school four days later. Then she took her Stanford finals.

Part of what helps keep her grounded, she said, has been redefining what success means in her own life—placing a greater value on impact rather than accolades.

“After some critical reflection, I realized that what is really fulfilling and meaningful beyond personal success is actually collective success—to share with others what you are so fortunate to have and to use your voice and platform for something positive.”

Gu has over 2 million followers on Instagram and regularly receives hundreds of thousands of viewers for her TikTok videos. 

Eileen Gu won’t receive Team USA’s $200,000 financial windfall

Gu’s financial profile looks different from many other top female athletes because competition winnings account for only a sliver of her income. Less than 1% of her estimated 2025 earnings came from prize money.

By comparison, tennis star Coco Gauff brought in about $8 million on the court and $25 million off it in 2025, while Aryna Sabalenka earned roughly $15 million both on and off the court, according to Forbes.

That imbalance makes Gu’s commercial success all the more striking.

But her unique circumstances also mean she won’t be eligible for the $200,000 bonus awarded to all U.S. athletes—no matter if they win or not. Gu competes for Team China—a decision she’s defended as a way to honor her mother’s heritage.

In Milan, she is slated to compete in women’s slopestyle, big air, and halfpipe. She has already taken silver in slopestyle and is expected to ski the remaining events later this month.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com