Early Life and Education
Brendan Foody's journey began with a strong interest in AI, leading him to pursue studies at Georgetown University in 2021, focusing on business administration and economics. However, Foody's focus soon shifted from academics to building a company, and in his sophomore year, he decided to drop out of Georgetown to fully dedicate his time to his startup idea.
Rise to Success
Foody, along with Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha, his high school debate teammates, co-founded Mercor in 2023. Mercor is an AI recruiting platform that provides experts to train AI models and chatbots. This innovative approach quickly gained traction. In September 2025, Mercor announced an annualized revenue of $500 million, up from $100 million in March of the same year. The company's valuation reached $10 billion in October 2025, making Foody and his co-founders the youngest self-made billionaires, surpassing even Mark Zuckerberg's debut on the list.
Key Business Strategies
Mercor's success stems from its focus on connecting companies with remote engineers, later evolving to train AI systems using human expertise. Mercor's platform automates aspects of the recruitment process, including resume screening, candidate matching, and interviews. Foody's philosophy is centered on hard work and dedication, emphasizing his commitment to working consistently over the past three years. Mercor's clients include OpenAI, Google, and six of the "Magnificent Seven" tech giants.
Philanthropy
While details on Foody’s specific philanthropic initiatives are not available in the search results, his position as a young billionaire suggests the potential for future philanthropic endeavors.
