‘I’ve worked every day’: How Mercor founder Brendan Foody became world’s youngest self-made billionaire

"We work a lot, I’ve worked every day for the last three years," Foody told Fortune. "People generally burn out, not just from working hard, but from working hard on something that they don’t feel as fulfilling and compounding."

His routine echoes the long-hour culture seen in some Bay Area tech firms influenced by the "996" working model imported from China, where employees are expected to work from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., six days a week.

Foody said he simply feels compelled to keep working: "I can’t really take a day off, because I just have this impulsive drive to go back to it. So I think that people finding the thing that they’re obsessed with and can really pour their lives into, is one of the most important things."

Brendan Foody, CEO of AI startup Mercor. Photo courtesy of Foody's X

Foody, CEO of Mercor, co-founded the AI company in 2023 with CTO Adarsh Hiremath and board chairman Surya Midha, whom he met at a high school debate, according to Forbes. The startup’s AI-powered hiring platform automates aspects of the recruitment process, including resume screening, candidate matching, and interviews.

Mercor’s recent $350 million funding round, led by Felicis Ventures and backed by Benchmark, General Catalyst, and Robinhood Ventures, helped the company achieve decacorn status with a $10 billion valuation.

The college-dropout-turned-billionaire trio said they however have not purchased any luxuries, simply because they do not have the time to.

"I leave the office around like 10:30 [p.m.], on an average day, six days a week," Foody said. "And so there's not a whole lot of time outside of that to be distracted by things outside of the business."

Despite the intense commitment, Foody admitted he still enjoys moments when work is less meeting-heavy, using the free time to write documents or curate ideas.