India has now emerged as the largest contributor to America’s immigrant billionaire community, according to the Forbes 2025 List of America’s Richest Immigrants. In a remarkable shift, Indian-origin entrepreneurs have overtaken their Israeli counterparts to claim the top spot, underlining the growing influence of India’s diaspora on the US economy.

India leads with 12 billionaires

Forbes reports that 125 foreign-born billionaires currently reside in the United States, representing 14% of all American billionaires and collectively holding $1.3 trillion, an impressive 18% of the nation’s total billionaire wealth. Among these, India now leads with 12 billionaire immigrants, surpassing Israel and Taiwan, each with 11.

The rise in Indian representation is not only a matter of numbers but also a reflection of a broader trend of highly educated and driven Indian professionals excelling in the fields of technology, finance, and healthcare.

Who are these Indian-origin billionaires?

At the top of the list stands Jay Chaudhry, founder of cybersecurity firm Zscaler, with a net worth of $17.9 billion. Born in a remote village in Himachal Pradesh, Chaudhry embodies the classic immigrant success story, i.e., arriving in the US for higher education and going on to build a tech empire.

Joining him are other prominent figures, including Vinod Khosla, co-founder of Sun Microsystems and a major venture capitalist, and tech giants like Sundar Pichai (Alphabet) and Satya Nadella (Microsoft), both recent entrants to the billionaire club.

The full list includes

Jay Chaudhry – $17.9B  (Cybersecurity)

Vinod Khosla – $9.2B  (Venture capital)

Rakesh Gangwal – $6.6B (Aviation)

Romesh T Wadhwani – $5.0B (Software)

Rajiv Jain – $4.8B  (Finance)

Kavitark Ram Shriram – $3.0B (Google, venture capital)

Raj Sardana – $2.0B (Technology services)

David Paul – $1.5B (Medical devices)

Nikesh Arora – $1.4B (Cybersecurity)

Sundar Pichai – $1.1B  (Alphabet)

Satya Nadella – $1.1B  (Microsoft)

Neerja Sethi – $1.0B (IT consulting)

Three of the ten richest people in the United States are foreign-born. Elon Musk, originally from South Africa, leads with an estimated net worth of $393.1 billion. Sergey Brin, who emigrated from Russia, follows with $139.7 billion, and Jensen Huang from Taiwan is close behind at $137.9 billion.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s rise is also notable—its count of billionaire immigrants has nearly tripled since 2022, putting it on equal footing with Israel in second place after India.

The Forbes report shows that immigrant wealth is largely self-made. While just over a quarter of American billionaires inherited their fortunes, a staggering 93% of immigrant billionaires built their wealth from scratch. The majority found success in just two sectors: technology (with 53 billionaires) and finance (28 billionaires).