A remarkable milestone has been reached in the world of global entrepreneurship: three young men, all aged 22, have become the youngest self-made billionaires in history. The achievement is anchored in their company, Mercor, a San Francisco-based artificial-intelligence recruiting platform valued at around $10 billion after a $350 million funding round.
Among these founders are two Indian-American former high-school classmates: Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha. The pair attended the same all-boys secondary school, where they excelled on the debate team and made history by winning all three major national policy-debate tournaments in a single year. Hiremath later enrolled at Harvard in computer science before dropping out to dedicate himself to Mercor. Midha, born in Mountain View and raised in San Jose after his parents emigrated from New Delhi, left university to focus on the startup venture.
Their startup works by leveraging machine-learning and human-in-the-loop techniques to match AI labs with a global network of technical talent, streamlining the hiring of high-skill engineers in an era of accelerated AI development. With their company reaching a $10 billion valuation, the trio surpassed the prior record held by Mark Zuckerberg, who became a billionaire at 23.
Their story signals the dynamic power of youthful innovation combined with global opportunity. The rise from high-school debate teams and college dorm rooms to billionaire founders underscores both the pace of technological change and the shifting geography of startup success. As young Indian-Americans, Hiremath and Midha’s journey also reflects the growing influence of the Indian diaspora in shaping global tech futures.
In short: three 22-year-olds have re-written the textbook on self-made wealth, building a cutting-edge AI-tech business and claiming global recognition—while still many years away from the traditional age of founding success.
