An IMGW News Report
Here’s something few Americans may realise: the richest man in the United States – indeed, the world – is not American-born.
Elon Musk, worth a staggering $393 billion, first landed in North America via South Africa and Canada. He’s one of 125 foreign-born billionaires now residing in the U.S., a cohort that accounts for 14 percent of America’s billionaire count and a jaw-dropping 18 percent of its total billionaire wealth.
“Western Europe’s rigid regulatory frameworks and cultural conservatism often curb entrepreneurial fluidity.”
This marks a steep rise from 2022, when just 92 immigrant billionaires made the list. Together, they now control $1.3 trillion, according to Forbes.
Many didn’t just make money – they changed industries. Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, born in Taiwan, and Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who escaped Soviet-era anti-Semitism, rank just behind Musk with fortunes of $137.9bn and $139.7bn, respectively.
“You’re not owed anything,
Noubar Afeyan
you have to work for it.”
American-Canadian entrepreneur, inventor, and philanthropist,
co-founder of the biotechnology company Moderna
Did you know Taiwan has now tied with Israel for the second-largest number of foreign-born U.S. billionaires (11 each)? That’s up from just four in 2022. Among the new entrants is Lisa Su, CEO of chipmaker AMD – and cousin to Huang.
India now leads the pack with 12 billionaire émigrés. Familiar names include Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Palo Alto Networks’ Nikesh Arora. Iran’s Maky Zanganeh entered the list after biotech firm Summit Therapeutics saw its share price leap nearly 200%, buoyed by a breakthrough cancer drug.
Nearly all of these immigrants – 93 percent – are self-made. That’s notably higher than among U.S.-born billionaires, where inherited wealth still plays a larger role. Many arrived with little more than ambition. Shahid Khan, who owns the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, once washed dishes for $1.20 an hour. Moderna’s Noubar Afeyan fled Lebanon’s civil war before co-founding a biotech giant.
Across the Atlantic, billionaire immigrants are less common. Western Europe’s rigid regulatory frameworks and cultural conservatism often curb entrepreneurial fluidity. Singapore and the UAE have drawn wealth, but largely through incentives, not innovation. In Africa, wealth remains tightly held and sparse.
So, what’s the secret? Perhaps it’s less about geography and more about mindset. “You’re not owed anything,” says Afeyan. “You have to work for it.” In a country where risk is rewarded and resilience revered, it’s often the outsiders who end up owning the game.
