1 / 11India Surpasses China, Israel: A record 125 foreign-born billionaires now live in the United States, hailing from 43 countries. According to the latest Forbes report, India has overtaken China and Israel as the leading country of origin for these self-made fortunes, with 12 billionaire immigrants. China and Israel now tie at 11 each. India’s latest additions to the list include tech giants like Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella, signalling the nation’s growing influence in US corporate leadership.
2 / 11Musk Tops All Immigrants: Elon Musk, born in South Africa, is the richest immigrant in the US and the world, worth $393.1 billion. He moved to the US via Canada as a college student. Musk founded or cofounded Tesla, SpaceX, xAI, and more. He owns major stakes in these firms, with SpaceX alone valued at $350 billion. Though his Tesla compensation plan was voided in court, Musk’s wealth still eclipses all others on the immigrant list.
3 / 11Brin’s Billionaire Ascent: Sergey Brin, Google’s cofounder, ranks second among immigrant billionaires at $139.7 billion. Brin moved to the US from Russia at age six to escape anti-Semitism. He co-created Google in 1998 and helped form Alphabet in 2015. Although no longer Alphabet’s president, Brin remains a board member and influential shareholder. He also invests in LTA Research, which is developing airship technology. Brin’s story remains a hallmark of immigrant success in tech.
4 / 11Huang Powers AI Future: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, born in Taiwan, ranks third with $137.9 billion. Sent to the US at age nine during Thailand’s unrest, he built Nvidia into an AI hardware powerhouse. Under his leadership, the firm’s market cap surpassed $3 trillion in 2024. Huang also supports academia, donating to Stanford and Oregon State. His rise symbolises Taiwan’s growing tech influence, which has helped the nation match Israel in immigrant billionaire count.
5 / 11Brokerage Pioneer Peterffy: Hungary-born Thomas Peterffy ranks fourth among immigrant billionaires with $67.9 billion. He arrived in the US in 1965, penniless but driven. Peterffy founded Interactive Brokers, a digital trading platform now used by sophisticated investors globally. Though no longer CEO, he remains chairman and a major US landowner, with over 560,000 acres. His early adoption of tech in finance helped reshape the brokerage industry.
6 / 11Casino Heir Adelson: Miriam Adelson, born in Israel, ranks fifth with $33.4 billion. A physician by training, she inherited a controlling stake in Las Vegas Sands after her husband Sheldon’s death. She expanded into sports by acquiring the Dallas Mavericks in 2023. Known for her political donations, Adelson is a major GOP backer. Her inclusion highlights the few immigrant women billionaires—only 17 out of 125 this year.
7 / 11Murdoch’s Media Empire: Australian-born Rupert Murdoch and his family hold $24 billion in net worth, ranking sixth. After building a vast global media empire, Murdoch stepped down as chairman in 2023. He sold major entertainment assets to Disney in 2019. Now, his son Lachlan leads the remaining Fox networks. Murdoch remains a central figure in global media and conservative political influence, with deep roots in American broadcasting.
8 / 11Investor Thiel in Top Ten: Germany-born Peter Thiel ranks seventh at $21.8 billion. A cofounder of PayPal and Palantir, he made early bets on Facebook and SpaceX. Thiel now manages the venture capital firm Founders Fund. A vocal critic of Silicon Valley’s political climate, he moved to Los Angeles in 2018. Thiel’s Thiel Fellowship encourages youth to skip college to pursue startups, making him an influential figure in US tech investing.
9 / 11India’s Chaudhry Breaks Through: Jay Chaudhry, born in India, ranks eighth with a $17.9 billion fortune. He founded cybersecurity firm Zscaler in 2008, which went public in 2018. Chaudhry and his family own about 40% of the company. Raised in a Himalayan village without basic utilities, he moved to the US for graduate studies in 1980. His success reflects the new dominance of Indian-born entrepreneurs among America’s wealthiest immigrants.
10 / 11Ukraine’s Koum Still Ranks: WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, from Ukraine, ranks ninth at $16.9 billion. He built the messaging app after leaving Yahoo, selling WhatsApp to Facebook for $22 billion in 2014. Koum resigned in 2018 but remains active as an investor via his firm, Newlands. His immigrant journey, from modest roots to tech giant, mirrors those of many others on the list who built fortunes in the US technology sector.
11 / 11Memory mogul from Taiwan: John Tu, a Chinese native raised in Taiwan, ranks among America’s richest immigrant billionaires with a $14.2 billion net worth. After immigrating to the U.S. in 1971, he partnered with David Sun to build Kingston Technology, a memory chip company they founded after losing their earlier fortune in the 1987 stock crash. Tu earned an engineering degree in Germany and now runs Kingston from a cubicle. He also backed medical tech firm Fluxergy with $50 million in 2020.
