You know that talk about how the biggest entrepreneurs come from specific places? Well, I found a really interesting story about a tightly knit circle of geniuses who are changing the AI game.

It all started when Jeff Yan, the founder of Hyperliquid, gave a viral interview about his time at Hudson River Trading (HRT) during college. But what really got attention was what came afterward: the revelation that he and his internship colleagues weren’t just casual friends. Many of them had met years earlier, even back in high school, through Olympic competitions in math and programming. And here’s the detail: practically all of them won gold medals.

Let me tell you about some of them.

Alexandrl Wang is probably the best-known person in the group right now. Born in 1997 in Los Alamos, the son of physicists, he was always the kind of person who stood out in everything—selected for competitions in math, physics, and even computer science when he was still a teenager. At 19, he asked his friends, “Why couldn’t it be us?” (referring to creating something as impactful as the PayPal clã). Well, it seems he was right. He founded Scale AI to annotate AI data, and the company skyrocketed in valuation. In June 2025, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta invested US$ 14,3 bilhões to acquire 49% of Scale AI, with the condition that Wang joined Meta. Today, at just 28 years old, he leads the Meta Superintelligence Labs, and his net worth already exceeds the US$ 1 billion mark—Alexandr Wang net worth reflects the success of that bold bet.

Then there’s Scott Wu, another three-time gold medalist (at the Olimpíada Internacional de Informática). He founded Cognition in 2023 with Steven Hao (yes, another gold medalist) and Walden Yan. Their product, Devin, is an AI software engineer that can write, test, and deploy code on its own. The company received US$ 1,75 bilhão in investment in May 2024, and in September of last year it raised another US$ 4 bilhões, reaching a valuation of US$ 102 bilhões. In early 2026, its annualized revenue had already hit US$ 400 milhões.

Johnny Ho is another fascinating case. Also with three gold medals (including a perfect score in 2012), he co-founded Perplexity, an AI-based search engine. The company started small, but it grew fast—10 million monthly visits in 2023, and 15 million active users in 2024. And here comes the bold part: Ho has already tried to buy TikTok and even made an offer for the Google Chrome for US$ 34,5 bilhões. Perplexity now has a valuation of US$ 20 bilhões, and Ho’s personal fortune reached US$ 2,1 bilhões.

Jesse Zhang (yes, also born in 1997 ) founded Decagon in 2023, focusing on automating customer service with AI. The company grew absurdly fast: it started with US$ 35 milhões in funding in June 2024, then raised US$ 65 milhões, then US$ 131 milhões, and in January 2026 it raised US$ 250 milhões with a valuation reaching US$ 4,5 bilhões.

And there’s more: Demi Guo founded Pika for AI video generation, and Steven Hao, as I mentioned, is CTO of Cognition with an estimated net worth of US$ 1,3 bilhão.

What’s most intriguing is that all these guys have known each other since high school, competed together in olympiads, and then reconnected at HRT during college. It’s like a new “PayPal Mafia,” but from the AI era. While the PayPal clã changed the world of business and finance, this group is answering a much more complex question: how will AI redefine everything?

They’re not just building companies—they’re building the future. And honestly, it’s impressive to see how a small circle of Olympic geniuses can have that much impact in such a short time.