Brendan Foody
- Net worth $2.2 billion
- Status -
- Country United States
- Source(-s) of wealth CEO, Entrepreneur
How much is Brendan Foody Worth? Brendan Foody Net Worth in 2026
Brendan Foody’s net worth is estimated at $2.2 billion as of November 2026. Almost all of it is a paper stake in Mercor, the company he started in 2023 with two friends from his high school debate team. By our math, Mercor’s own profit forecast for 2026 would hand his stake about $50 million, so the market is pricing it at 44 times that.
| Net worth | $2.2 billion (our estimate) |
|---|---|
| Age | Early 20s (described as 22 in late 2025 reports; birth date not published) |
| Country | United States |
| Known for | Co-founder and CEO of Mercor, an AI training data company |
| Main income sources | Mercor shares |
How much is Brendan Foody worth in 2026?
About $2.2 billion. Mercor raised $350 million at a $10 billion valuation in October 2025, and Forbes estimated that each of the three co-founders holds roughly 22%, VnExpress reported. Mercor has not disclosed the stakes, and he has not sold shares in any deal we could find. So this is a private-company number: it holds only as long as investors keep paying that price.
The arithmetic behind $2.2 billion
| Source | Our estimate | What it rests on |
|---|---|---|
| Mercor stake, about 22% | $2.2 billion | 22% of the $10 billion valuation set by the October 2025 Series C. The 22% is a press estimate, not a filing. |
| Pay, cash and angel bets | $10 million | Our assumption. CEO pay is not disclosed. He backed Deeptune as an angel in March 2026 before Mercor bought it; the price was not published. |
| Tax on sales | $0 | No share sale is on record, so no gain has been taxed. |
| Total | $2.2 billion | $2.21 billion before rounding. |
From Indian freelancers to AI lab contractors
Foody, Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha met at Bellarmine College Preparatory in San Jose. Foody and Midha went to Georgetown, Hiremath to Harvard, and all three dropped out as sophomores in 2023, KTVU reported. They later became Thiel Fellows.
The first idea was modest: connect freelance programmers in India with American companies. The business that made the money came after the pivot. Mercor now recruits engineers, lawyers, doctors and bankers to grade and train AI models for labs including OpenAI and Anthropic, and had about 30,000 contractors on its books in October 2025, according to its encyclopedia entry. Foody told KTVU the company was paying experts about $1.5 million a day.
That valuation moved fast. KTVU put Mercor at $2 billion in early 2025; Felicis led the round that took it to $10 billion months later, with Benchmark, General Catalyst and Robinhood Ventures joining.
A $2 billion run rate, most of it passed through
Mercor’s headline sales look bigger than they are. Gross revenue was $614 million in the first half of 2026, and the company expects about $2 billion for the full year, Dealroom reported. Contractors took roughly 60% to 70% of gross revenue last year; if that held, first-half net revenue was closer to $180 million to $250 million. The company forecasts operating profit of $226 million in 2026 and $1.7 billion in 2027.
Here is our calculation for his share. 22% of $226 million is about $50 million. His $2.2 billion stake is therefore priced at about 44 times his slice of this year’s expected profit. Investors are paying for the 2027 forecast, not for 2026.
A rough 2026
In March 2026 a supply-chain attack through the open-source LiteLLM library exposed up to 4 terabytes of Mercor data, and Meta, then a major customer, paused work, The Next Web reported. Mercor called the impact very limited. On July 9 the company bought Deeptune, a simulation startup in which Foody had personally invested three months earlier; he told Fortune that investment was largely motivated by the planned purchase. The same day, Bloomberg reported Mercor was in early talks to raise money at $20 billion.
Why other estimates disagree
Public estimates differ mainly on the valuation they use. Some still apply the $10 billion October 2025 price, as we do; others count the $20 billion talks as if the round had closed, which roughly doubles his number. None can use a disclosed stake, because Mercor has never published one.
What would move the figure
A closed round at $20 billion is the obvious one. Nvidia was in talks to join in August 2026, Dealroom reported, with General Catalyst possibly leading. At 22% that would put his stake near $4.4 billion before any dilution from the new money. A slip in the 2027 profit forecast would push the other way.
Brendan Foody net worth FAQ
What is Brendan Foody’s net worth?
About $2.2 billion as of November 2026 by our estimate: roughly 22% of Mercor at its last priced valuation of $10 billion.
How much of Mercor does Brendan Foody own?
Roughly 22%, according to a 2025 press estimate. Hiremath and Midha are thought to hold similar stakes; the company has not confirmed any of them.
How much did Brendan Foody make from Mercor’s funding rounds?
Nothing in cash that has been reported. The October 2025 round raised $350 million for the company, which lifted the paper value of his stake but did not pay him directly.
How old is Brendan Foody?
His birth date has not been published. Reports in late 2025 described all three founders as 22 when Mercor hit a $10 billion valuation, which made them the youngest self-made billionaires at the time.
What does Mercor do?
It hires experts such as doctors, lawyers and engineers to train and test AI models. It had about 30,000 contractors in October 2025 and expects about $2 billion in gross revenue in 2026.
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How we estimate net worth
Our estimates are based on public reporting, company valuations, and deal and earnings figures all compiled in an internal valuation model. They are approximate, and figures change over time as new information emerges.
Last updated: November 2026.