Business & Finance
India Tops List of Immigrant Billionaires in US, Forbes 2026 Report Shows
India has become the leading birthplace for immigrant billionaires in the United States, according to Forbes' America's Richest Immigrants 2026 list. The report identified 19 US billionaires born in India, the highest number for any single country.
The latest Forbes data shows the US is home to 144 billionaires born outside the country who built their wealth after immigrating. These individuals hail from 45 different nations and hold a combined fortune of $2.2 trillion, a sharp rise from $1.3 trillion in 2025, when 125 immigrant billionaires were counted.
India also topped the list in 2025, though with a smaller count of 12 immigrant billionaires. Among the newcomers to the 2026 list from India are venture capitalist Hemant Taneja, Astera Labs cofounders Sanjay Gajendra and Jitendra Mohan, and Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer at Palantir.
Speaking to Forbes, Astera Labs' Mohan reflected on his journey to the US: "I did my undergrad in India, and I came here to do my master's, and my plan actually was to come to the US, get my degree, maybe do a job for five years and then go back. And everything worked out to plan except the last bit. So now I've been here for 32 years."
His cofounder, Gajendra, described his experience as one shaped by ambition: "It's been a journey of coming to the US with big dreams. For me, it was always about starting a company of my own."
Amjad Masad, the Jordanian-born cofounder of coding startup Replit, also commented on the opportunities available in America, saying, "America still provides a lot of opportunity, it's one of the most dynamic markets and innovative places."
After India, Israel and Taiwan tied for second place, each contributing 11 immigrant billionaires to the US. China followed with 9, Canada with 8, Iran with 7, Germany with 6, and both France and the UK with 5 each, rounding out the top ten countries of origin.
Despite India's lead in total numbers, none of its 19 billionaires ranked among the ten wealthiest immigrants in the country. That list is led by Elon Musk, followed by Google cofounder Sergey Brin, Nvidia cofounder Jensen Huang, Thomas Peterffy, Miriam Adelson and her family, David Sun, John Tu, Peter Thiel, Rupert Murdoch and family, and Adam Foroughi.
Forbes noted that the three wealthiest immigrants—Musk, Brin, and Huang—together account for more than 60% of the total wealth held by immigrant billionaires in the United States.