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Who is Zach Yadegari, 18-year-old millionaire CEO of Cal AI who got rejected by Harvard, Yale, MIT, Stanford
Zach, who is based out of New York, shared a post on X, listing out the colleges that rejected him and the few where he secured acceptance. The rejections came from the most sought-after colleges such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Washington University, and Columbia University.
Updated : Apr 03, 2025, 08:39 AM IST
 "Zach also shared his his college admissions essay, where he revealed that he started coding from the age of seven.")
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An 18-year-old millionaire has made headlines again, but not for a success story this time. Zach Yadegari is a co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Cal AI -- an app that lets people keep track of calories by taking pictures of their food. However, despite owning a successful startup, Zach has faced rejections from several top universities in the United States -- including Harvard, Yale, and Stanford University.
Who is Zach and what does his company do?
Zach based in NY
Zach, who is based out of New York, shared a post on X, listing out the colleges that rejected him and the few where he secured acceptance. The rejections came from the most sought-after colleges such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Washington University, Columbia University, Princeton University, and New York University (NYU).
The colleges where Zach secured admissions were Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), University of Texas (UT), and the University of Miami.
Began coding at age 7
Zach also shared his his college admissions essay, where he revealed that he started coding from the age of 7. He launched his first app at the age of 12 and by age 16, he had exited a successful online gaming business.
He started Cal AI in his junior year of high school. The app soon became the fastest-growing in its category, registering millions of dollars in revenue. After the startup's success, Zach and his co-founder moved to San Francisco in California.
In his post, Zach also shared that he had a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 4.0 and his startup was generating USD 30 million (around Rs 3 crore) in annual revenue.
Zach's personal essay
In his admissions essay, Zach confessed that he earlier believed higher education was unnecessary but his thoughts have since changed.
"College, I came to realise, is more than a mere rite of passage. It is the conduit to elevate the work I have always done. In this next chapter, I want to learn from humans -- both professors and students -- not just from computers or textbooks," he wrote.
