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Asian Immigrants Power Forbes Billionaire List
By Romen Basu Borsellino | 10 Jul, 2025
Billionaires from India, China, and Taiwan highlight Asian Americans' contributions to the US economy as a fierce debate over immigration plays out politically.
The global economy is not a sport. But if it were, those on “Team Asia” might be celebrating their showing on Forbes Magazine’s 2025 list of “America’s Richest Immigrants."
Three of the top five countries that have produced the most US billionaires are from Asian countries: India, Taiwan, and China.
Forbes has no shortage of annual lists like 30 Under 30, World’s Richest Self-Made women, and America’s Best Companies, just to name a few. But their most recent highlights the effects of immigration, especially at a time when it’s been a hot button issue.
Per Forbes Magazine, “A record 125 foreign-born U.S. citizens are billionaires living in the United States. They hail from 43 countries but became rich in America.” The 125 names on the list collectively hold a combined $1.3 trillion of our nation’s wealth.
The 43 countries (along with their respective number of billionaires) include the Asian nations of India (12), Taiwan (11), China (8), Iran (6), Indonesia (1), Iraq (1), Myanmar (1), Pakistan (1), South Korea (1) and Thailand (1).
Outside of Asia, Israel is tied for second with 11 and Canada has the fourth most with 9.
The top spot on the list of individual billionaires of course belongs to South African born Elon Musk, who currently holds a net-worth of $393 billion. But Taiwan’s Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia semiconductor manufacturing appears at the number three spot with $137.9 billion. Indian security software CEO Jay Chaudhry comes in at number eight with $17.9 billion and Chinese businessman John Tu rounds out the top ten with $14.1 billion.
One could wonder if the countries they came from feel short-changed. Could those economies be reaping those billions right now? Or was the United States the only conceivable place where this was possible?
If India Today’s headline “India-Born Billionaires Pip Israelis” is any indication, they’re celebrating with the same pride they might show for a cricket victory. And for India, that would be a comeback win. Last year, the country had just seven names on the list. This year, they took the top spot by adding an additional five names like Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai who joins at #119 with $1.1 billion.
Forbes' announcement came with more than just a spreadsheet of numbers. The article told the story of Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, who previously washed dishes for $1.20 an hour, and Jay Chaudhry, who had never been on a plane before he came to the US to attend grad school in 1980. Some of the billionaires were quoted talking about the American Dream.
What was left unsaid was an explicit mention of the attacks that immigrants are currently facing in this country. There was no outward reference to the recent restrictions that have made it increasingly difficult for immigrants to come to this country or the substantial disadvantage the US might be at if those 125 and many more were never allowed in.
Then again, the numbers said it all.
One could wonder if the countries they came from feel short-changed. Could those economies be reaping those billions right now? Or was the United States the only conceivable place where this was possible?
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