By Segun Adeyanju
The rapid expansion of artificial intelligence has propelled Surya Midha, co-founder of AI recruiting startup Mercor, to become the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at just 22, following a major valuation surge that reshaped the company’s global standing.
Midha, alongside co-founders Brendan Foody and Adarsh Hiremath, reached billionaire status after Mercor was valued at $10 billion in October 2025 during a private funding round. The trio each hold significant equity stakes in the company, which has rapidly grown at the centre of the AI labour and training ecosystem.
The startup began in 2023 as a simple talent-matching platform connecting overseas engineers with U.S. companies. It has since evolved into a “human-in-the-loop” AI services provider, supplying specialists across fields such as law, medicine, and engineering to help train advanced AI systems used by major tech firms, including OpenAI and Google DeepMind.
Born in California and raised in a family of Indian origin, Midha studied at Georgetown University before dropping out in 2023 to pursue the startup full-time.
The idea behind Mercor reportedly emerged during a hackathon in Brazil, where the founders designed a system for matching global technical talent with companies in need of specialized skills.
The company’s growth has been fueled by strong investor confidence. It raised $32 million in Series A funding in 2024, followed by $100 million in Series B funding in early 2025, before its $10 billion Series C valuation later that year.
Today, Mercor manages tens of thousands of contractors worldwide, who collectively earn over $1.5 million daily while contributing to AI model training.
Midha’s rise has been described as one of the fastest wealth creations of the AI era, overtaking previous records held by tech founders who reached billionaire status in their early twenties. His achievement also places him among the youngest entrants ever on global billionaire rankings.
Despite his financial status, Midha has stepped back from day-to-day operations, transitioning to chairman of Mercor in late 2025 as the company continues to scale under its leadership team.
The milestone underscores how the AI boom is reshaping global entrepreneurship, compressing timelines for startup growth and accelerating the creation of new billionaires at unprecedented speed.
