This 22-year-old co-founder surpassed Mark Zuckerberg’s Forbes record: Meet Surya Midha
Mercor co-founder, Surya Midha, reportedly has $2.2 billion of net worth.
- Mar 12, 2026,
- Updated Mar 12, 2026 4:37 PM IST
The Forbes "youngest billionaire record" has been granted to only a few self-made founders, including Mark Zuckerberg at just the age of 23. Now, Surya Midha, a 22-year-old Indian-origin co-founder of AI startup Mercor, shares the record as part of the youngest self-made billionaire trio on Forbes' 2026 World's Billionaires list with a $2.2 billion net worth.
Midha, and two other co-founders, Brendan Foody and Adarsh Hiremath, founded Mercor, an AI hiring startup, in 2023. Now, in October 2025, the company was valued at $10 billion after $350 million Series C funding.
Surya Midha is reportedly a couple of months younger than the other two founders, making him the absolute youngest individual among the trio.
Who is Surya Midha?
Surya Midha was born in Mountain View and raised in San Jose, California. He completed his high school at Bellarmine College Preparatory between 2017 and 2021, and he was also a national debate champion during this time.
“My partner and I were the first team in history to win all three national tournaments in policy debate: the Tournament of Champions (TOC), the National Debate Coaches Association Tournament (NDCA), and the National Speech and Debate Association Tournament (NSDA),” Midha said in a blog post.
Midha did his bachelor’s in Foreign Studies at Georgetown University, and after two years of college, he took an academic leave in 2023 to co-found Mercor. Midha co-founded the AI hiring startup with his high school friend, Brendan Foody and Adarsh Hiremath, and became world's three youngest self-made billionaires in October 2025.
What is Mercor and how does it work?
Mercor is an AI-based hiring platform designed to reduce the time and human effort involved in recruitment. Reportedly, it automates resume screening and candidate matching, conducts AI interviews and also offers payroll management. The process begins with a job description upload, after which Mercor's algorithm suggests the best-fitted candidates.
According to a Tech Crunch report, OpenAI is one of Mercor’s clients to automate the hiring process. The company claims that the AI-powered process eliminates human bias and ensures that candidates are evaluated based on merit.
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The Forbes "youngest billionaire record" has been granted to only a few self-made founders, including Mark Zuckerberg at just the age of 23. Now, Surya Midha, a 22-year-old Indian-origin co-founder of AI startup Mercor, shares the record as part of the youngest self-made billionaire trio on Forbes' 2026 World's Billionaires list with a $2.2 billion net worth.
Midha, and two other co-founders, Brendan Foody and Adarsh Hiremath, founded Mercor, an AI hiring startup, in 2023. Now, in October 2025, the company was valued at $10 billion after $350 million Series C funding.
Surya Midha is reportedly a couple of months younger than the other two founders, making him the absolute youngest individual among the trio.
Who is Surya Midha?
Surya Midha was born in Mountain View and raised in San Jose, California. He completed his high school at Bellarmine College Preparatory between 2017 and 2021, and he was also a national debate champion during this time.
“My partner and I were the first team in history to win all three national tournaments in policy debate: the Tournament of Champions (TOC), the National Debate Coaches Association Tournament (NDCA), and the National Speech and Debate Association Tournament (NSDA),” Midha said in a blog post.
Midha did his bachelor’s in Foreign Studies at Georgetown University, and after two years of college, he took an academic leave in 2023 to co-found Mercor. Midha co-founded the AI hiring startup with his high school friend, Brendan Foody and Adarsh Hiremath, and became world's three youngest self-made billionaires in October 2025.
What is Mercor and how does it work?
Mercor is an AI-based hiring platform designed to reduce the time and human effort involved in recruitment. Reportedly, it automates resume screening and candidate matching, conducts AI interviews and also offers payroll management. The process begins with a job description upload, after which Mercor's algorithm suggests the best-fitted candidates.
According to a Tech Crunch report, OpenAI is one of Mercor’s clients to automate the hiring process. The company claims that the AI-powered process eliminates human bias and ensures that candidates are evaluated based on merit.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine