AI makes 2 Indian-origin founders world’s youngest self-made billionaires worth ₹40,000 crore each, beats Zuckerberg
Two Indian-origin entrepreneurs, Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha, had their fortunes double with their artificial intelligence (AI) startup Mercor. The company raised $750 million in a fresh funding round, taking its valuation to $20 billion or almost ₹1.88 lakh crore, as per multiple reports.
The company's three co-founders- Hiremath, chief technology officer; Midha, board chairman; and Brendan Foody, chief executive officer — are 23-year-olds. They are estimated to be worth $4.2 billion each or ₹40,000 crore, based on their individual 21% stakes in the company, reported Money Control.
Mercor's latest funding round, announced on Tuesday, was backed by investors including Benchmark, General Catalyst, Nvidia and Salesforce. The founders’ estimated wealth climbed from around $2.2 billion each in October 2025 when the company secured $350 million at a valuation of $10 billion.
According to the publication, the founder trio became the world’s youngest self-made billionaires last year at 22. They have beaten Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan, who was 27 and even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who was 23 when he became a billionaire. They continue to hold the title, with Midha being the youngest of them by approximately two months.
Hiremath and Midha, both of Indian origin, are from Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose, California. Their association began during their school debate days, and they later joined Foody to launch Mercor in 2023.
Reportedly, the two Indian-origin founders were selected for the Thiel Fellowship, helmed by billionaire investor Peter Thiel, which offers young entrepreneurs a $100,000 grant to pursue their ventures.
Midha was born in Mountain View and raised in San Jose. His parents shifted to the US from New Delhi. Hiremath, meanwhile, enrolled at Harvard University to study computer science but dropped out after two years to build Mercor.
Mercor began its journey as a recruitment platform connecting freelance coders in India with companies in the US. It later expanded into data labelling, bringing professionals such as doctors and lawyers on board to help leading AI companies, including OpenAI, to train their models.
Mercor's latest funding is said to aid its evaluation and post-training business, as per the company's announcement.
Despite its $20 billion valuation, Mercor is still trailing behind its rivals like Scale AI. Scale AI was valued at around $29 billion when Meta acquired a 49% stake in the company last year. As per Forbes, Surge AI is valued at approximately $24 billion.
Meanwhile, Kalshi co-founder Luana Lopes Lara, 30, is currently recognised as the world’s youngest self-made woman billionaire.
Sneha Biswas specialises in covering entertainment and pop culture, with a specialisation on Bollywood, Hollywood, OTT platforms, K-pop, K-dramas, and major developments in the US entertainment industry. She believes in telling stories that balance speed with substance, and in making entertainment journalism contextual, culturally aware, and reader-first rather than purely reactive.<br><br> With over six years of experience in digital media, Sneha currently serves as a Deputy Chief Content Producer at Live Mint. She has spent more than three and a half years with the HT Group and returned to the organisation in February 2025, joining Live Mint to uplift the entertainment section. Over the past year, she has been closely involved in entertainment coverage including breaking news, explainers, trend reporting, box office reports and analysis for the audience.<br><br> Sneha is Google News certified, having completed training focused on newsroom best practices, digital reporting, and SEO-driven content strategies. Her work reflects a strong understanding of audience behaviour, search trends, and the evolving consumption patterns of entertainment news across formats.<br><br> Prior to her current role, Sneha has worked across multiple content and editorial functions within digital newsrooms, building expertise in content planning, editing, and real-time coverage. Her professional interests lie at the intersection of entertainment, internet culture, and global pop trends.<br><br> Working for the National city team, Biswas closely follows global entertainment movements while maintaining a strong pulse on what is happening in India.
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