Albert Wesker was born of parents with superior intellectual genes.[4] He and dozens of other children of his caliber were collected and raised as components of the Wesker children project by the Umbrella Corporation and given the surname "Wesker".[4] He showed particular promise over the other children, which pleased Umbrella's founder, Ozwell E. Spencer.[citation needed] Spencer saw in Wesker the makings of what his children needed.[citation needed] Obviously not coincidentally, Albert would eventually go into the service of the same company that molded him and become a close employee under the watchful eyes of his 'creator', Spencer, all the while unaware of the pharmaceutical president's true intentions and his origins.[citation needed]
Wesker joined the international pharmaceutical enterprise Umbrella at the age of 17[notes 1] and began working as one of its researchers.[citation needed] In 1977, Wesker was assigned to the Umbrella Management Training Facility under Doctor James Marcus.[5] Wesker became friends with, and a rival of fellow trainee William Birkin, becoming colleagues and accomplices for years to come.[notes 2] Both Wesker and Birkin were regarded by Marcus as his best apprentices and the only people he trusted.[6] When the Training Facility was closed down on July 29, 1978, the two were personally transferred to the Arklay Research Facility (underneath the Spencer Estate) to continue their own tyrant virus research (while Marcus continued to work on his own), becoming the facility's chief researchers.[citation needed]
