In a stunning feat that eclipses even Mark Zuckerberg's early meteoric rise, three 22-year-old high school friends—Brendan Foody, Adarsh Hiremath, and Surya Midha—have clinched the title of the world's youngest self-made billionaires. According to Forbes, their AI-powered recruitment startup, Mercor, soared to a $10 billion valuation following a massive $350 million funding round, propelling the trio into billionaire territory. Foody serves as CEO, Hiremath as CTO, and Midha as board chairman, marking a historic milestone as they surpass Zuckerberg, who achieved the feat at 23 back in 2008.

The improbable journey began at Bellarmine College Preparatory, an elite all-boys high school in San Jose, California, where Indian-American duo Hiremath and Midha first crossed paths with Foody on the debate team. The pair made waves by becoming the first in school history to sweep all three national policy debate championships in a single year, honing skills in persuasion and strategy that would later fuel their entrepreneurial fire. Selected as Thiel Fellows—a prestigious program backed by billionaire Peter Thiel—the trio received $100,000 grants to forgo traditional college and dive headfirst into startups, a decision Hiremath reflected on wryly: "The thing that's crazy for me is, if I weren't working on Mercor, I would have just graduated college a couple months ago."

Founded in 2023, Mercor initially aimed to bridge Indian engineering talent with U.S. firms hungry for freelance coders, leveraging an innovative platform with AI-driven avatar interviews. But the real breakthrough came in pivoting to data-labeling services, where expert contractors now train machine-learning models for heavyweights like OpenAI. "It's definitely crazy. It feels very surreal. Obviously beyond our wildest imaginations," Foody shared with Forbes, capturing the whirlwind ascent. The company's explosive growth—from a $100 million annualized revenue run rate in March to $500 million today—earned it spots on Forbes' 2025 Under 30 list and the prestigious Cloud 100, underscoring its dominance in the AI ecosystem.

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This billionaire breakthrough cements the trio's place among an exclusive cadre of young tech trailblazers. They follow in the footsteps of 27-year-old Shayne Coplan of Polymarket, who hit the mark after a $2 billion infusion from Intercontinental Exchange, the NYSE's parent company. Before him, Scale AI's Alexandr Wang held the youngest title at 28 for 18 months, while his co-founder Lucy Guo shattered barriers as the youngest self-made female billionaire at 30—edging out Taylor Swift. As Mercor's valuation skyrockets, these debate whiz kids aren't just rewriting the rules of wealth; they're redefining what's possible for a generation armed with AI and audacity.

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