125 immigrant billionaires now hold $1.3 trillion of America's wealth

Immigrants now hold 14 per cent of US billionaire slots and run Meta's AI lab, showing how deeply foreign talent shapes America's wealth and tech innovation

Immigrants aren’t just cheap labour — they help make America wealthier. The 2025 Forbes list of foreign-born billionaires living in the US, along with Meta’s newly announced Superintelligence Lab run entirely by immigrant researchers, reflects how central immigrants have become to the country’s growth — economically and technologically.

 

A record 125 foreign-born American citizens now appear on Forbes’ annual list of billionaires residing in the US, up from 92 in 2022. Together, they account for 14 per cent of America’s nearly 900 billionaires and hold $1.3 trillion in combined wealth — around 18 per cent of the country’s total billionaire fortune.

 

 

Among the top 10 richest Americans, three are immigrants. The world’s wealthiest person, Elon Musk, was born in South Africa and moved to the US via Canada as a student. He is now worth $393.1 billion. Google cofounder Sergey Brin, who came to the US from Russia as a child, follows with a net worth of $139.7 billion. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, born in Taiwan and sent to the US as a child during political unrest in Thailand, is worth $137.9 billion. 

 

Where the billionaires are from

 

These 125 billionaire immigrants hail from 43 countries, but most were born in just a handful of places.

 

• Indian-origin immigrants leads with 12 billionaires, up from 7 in 2022

• Taiwan and Israel follow closely with 11 each

• Canada (9), China (8), and Germany and Iran (6 each) also feature prominently

 

Among the new entrants are AMD CEO Lisa Su, cousin of Nvidia’s Huang, and Iranian-born biotech leader Maky Zanganeh, now co-CEO of Summit Therapeutics. “Being an immigrant is about seeking the best opportunities and learning to adapt to new environments,” Forbes quoted Zanganeh, whose firm’s lung cancer drug candidate helped push her into the billionaire bracket.

 

Indians added five new immigrant billionaires this year — more than any other country. Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, and Nikesh Arora are now part of this cohort, joining other US-based billionaires like Jay Chaudhry, Vinod Khosla, and Romesh Wadhwani.

 

Most are self-made, and many came for education

 

While over a quarter of US billionaires inherited their wealth, 93 per cent of immigrant billionaires built it themselves. Nearly two-thirds made their fortune in tech (53 people) or finance (28 people).

 

Many came to the US for higher education and stayed on. According to Forbes, Musk arrived to study at the University of Pennsylvania. Jay Chaudhry, now worth $17.9 billion, flew from India to the University of Cincinnati in 1980 having never been on a plane. Shahid Khan, owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, arrived at 16 to study in Illinois and washed dishes for $1.20 an hour his first day. 

 

Immigrants leading Meta’s AI lab

 

Beyond billionaires, immigrants are also behind some of the most cutting-edge innovation in the US today. Meta’s newly launched Superintelligence Lab, tasked with building next-generation AI systems, is staffed entirely by immigrant researchers. The 11-member team includes talent from India, China, the UK, South Africa, and Australia — all with advanced US university degrees and work histories at top AI firms like OpenAI, Google and DeepMind.

 

“Meta’s Superintelligence Lab, led entirely by immigrant researchers, is the practical reality we needed to see,” Praneet Singh, AVP of University Partnership at upGrad’s study abroad division told Business Standard. “AI innovation is truly going borderless and India continues to serve as a strong hub of ready talent.”

 

He added, “It’s quite paradoxical, though — while our talent is ready, mobility remains constrained. Despite policy shifts like STEM OPT extensions and improved green card processing, visa constraints and bureaucratic uncertainties continue to slow down global movement.”

 

This rise in immigrant wealth and innovation comes against the backdrop of tighter immigration scrutiny under the Trump administration, with longer visa processing times and expanded enforcement.