# Brendan Foody

> Brendan Foody is the 22-year-old co-founder and CEO of Mercor, the AI talent and data company that became a $10 billion decacorn in under two years. A Georgetown dropout and former Thiel Fellow from Menlo Park, California, Foody co-founded Mercor with high school debate teammates Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha at a São Paulo hackathon in early 2023. Mercor connects AI labs — including OpenAI, Meta, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic — with domain experts (scientists, doctors, lawyers, bankers) who train frontier AI models through human feedback, growing from $1M to $500M in annual run rate within 17 months and making Foody one of the world's youngest self-made billionaires.

- **Role:** CEO and Co-Founder at Mercor
- **Organizations:** Mercor, Thiel Fellowship
- **From:** Menlo Park, California, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** High School Diploma, Bellarmine College Preparatory, BBA Business Administration and Economics (dropped out sophomore year), Georgetown University
- **Known for:** World's youngest self-made billionaire (alongside co-founders Hiremath and Midha), Grew Mercor from $1M to $500M annual run rate in 17 months, Raised $483.6M total funding including $350M Series C at $10B valuation

## Career timeline

- **2018** — Sold donuts in 8th grade - first entrepreneurial venture
- **2020-2022** — Founded Stealth, a cloud consulting business
- **2020-2022** — Founded Seros, focused on centralizing personal computing for 3rd world countries
- **2021** — Graduated from Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose; ranked 6th nationally as a debate speaker
- **2021** — Enrolled at Georgetown University
- **2023** — Attended Prod hackathon in São Paulo with Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha, founding Mercor
- **2023** — Dropped out of Georgetown University before spring finals, sophomore year
- **2023** — Mercor reached $1M revenue run rate within 9 months
- **2024** — Named a Thiel Fellow
- **2025** — Mercor raised $100M Series B at $2B valuation (led by Felicis Ventures)
- **2025** — Featured at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025; Mercor reached $500M ARR
- **2025** — Mercor raised $350M Series C at $10B valuation; named one of world's youngest self-made billionaires
- **2026** — Announced Mercor expansion to NYC; launched APEX-Agents AI benchmark

## Achievements

- World's youngest self-made billionaire (alongside co-founders Hiremath and Midha)
- Grew Mercor from $1M to $500M annual run rate in 17 months
- Raised $483.6M total funding including $350M Series C at $10B valuation
- Built a platform serving OpenAI, Meta, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic
- Created APEX (AI Productivity Index) - benchmark testing AI on 200+ professional tasks
- Thiel Fellow (2024)
- Ranked 6th nationally in individual extemporaneous speaking
- Co-captain of Bellarmine College Prep debate team, ranked #1 in the nation
- Built a 30,000+ contractor network paying over $1.5M daily

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Announced Mercor expansion to New York City office
- **2026-01** — Launched APEX-Agents benchmark with 480 tasks across investment banking, consulting, and corporate law
- **2025-11** — Named world's youngest self-made billionaire by Fortune magazine alongside co-founders
- **2025-10** — Closed $350M Series C at $10B valuation led by Felicis Ventures, with Benchmark, General Catalyst, and Robinhood Ventures
- **2025-10** — Spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 on AI and the future of work
- **2025-09** — Mercor reached $500M annualized revenue run rate

## Links

- Website: https://mercor.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendan-foody-2995ab10b/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/mercor_ai
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brendan.foody.33

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/brendan-foody
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-27