Story perspectives

Immigrants Built 59% of U.S. Unicorns Worth $5 T

6/4/2026

Summary

Story summary

Immigrant founders created or co-created 59% (455 of 775) of U.S. privately held unicorns as of April 2026.
Those 455 immigrant-founded companies hold a collective market value of $5 trillion.
Immigrant-founded private unicorns generate an average of 833 jobs per company, with international-student-immigrant unicorns averaging 1,123 jobs.
Top U.S. billion-dollar firms with immigrant founders—SpaceX ($1.5 trillion), Anthropic ($965 billion) and OpenAI ($852 billion)—represent founders from 76 countries, led by India’s 96 firms.

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Story summary

Immigrant founders created or co-created 59% (455 of 775) of U.S. privately held unicorns as of April 2026.
Those 455 immigrant-founded companies hold a collective market value of $5 trillion.
Immigrant-founded private unicorns generate an average of 833 jobs per company, with international-student-immigrant unicorns averaging 1,123 jobs.
Top U.S. billion-dollar firms with immigrant founders—SpaceX ($1.5 trillion), Anthropic ($965 billion) and OpenAI ($852 billion)—represent founders from 76 countries, led by India’s 96 firms.