Immigrant Entrepreneurs Power the Majority of U.S. Billion-Dollar Startups

A National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) analysis of 775 privately held U.S. startups valued at $1 billion or more (April 2026) shows immigrants founded or co-founded 455 firms—59 % of the total. Two-thirds of all U.S. billion-dollar companies involve an immigrant founder or child, and nearly 80 % have an immigrant in a senior role such as CEO or VP of engineering.

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The United States has no startup visa. In 2022, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) blocked a proposal to add one to the Chips and Science Act, leaving high-skill immigration policy unchanged despite the growing share of immigrant-led firms.

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Immigrant-founded unicorns hold a collective value of $5 trillion—exceeding the market cap of companies in all but seven countries. Their worth rose from $168 billion in 2016 to $5 trillion, a 2,876 % jump. Each firm creates an average of 833 jobs; international-student founders (24 % of unicorns) generate an average of 1,123 jobs per company. Top valuations include SpaceX ($1.5 trillion), Anthropic ($965 billion) and OpenAI ($852 billion). Founders come from 76 nations, led by India (96 firms), Israel (60), the United Kingdom (47) and China (41).

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Immigrant-driven unicorns dominate AI, defense, cybersecurity and medical research. Their rapid growth supplies hundreds of thousands of jobs and boosts retirement savings for Americans through stock and mutual-fund holdings.

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Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) emphasized immigrants’ “enormous contributions” to innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation. Representative María Elvira Salazar (R-FL) warned that U.S. leadership in AI and related fields depends on modernizing the high-skill immigration system, citing the Dignity Act as a solution.

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• “Immigrants have always and continue to make enormous contributions to the U.S. economy, driving American innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation,” — Sen. Alex Padilla, D-CA

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• “The value that immigrants bring to American innovation and economic growth is immense and has always been America's competitive advantage,” — Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-FL

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• “This study highlights how immigrants have played a leading role in critical American startups in AI, defense, cybersecurity, medical research, and other emerging industries. The takeaway is clear—if we want to continue leading in these fields and remain the world's top economy, we must pass policies like the Dignity Act to improve the talent pipeline and modernize our high-skilled immigration system for the 21st century.” — Rep. María Elvira Salazar, R-FL

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• “The rise of these and other soon-to-be publicly traded companies benefits the pocketbooks of retirees and other Americans, including through individual stock investments and mutual fund holdings.” — Stuart Anderson, Forbes contributor

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The NFAP report urges swift immigration reform to keep the talent pipeline that fuels high-growth startups. Lawmakers are asked to enact the Dignity Act and other visa-streamlining measures for entrepreneurs and skilled graduates, preserving the United States’ edge in emerging technologies.

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