Forbes Immigrant 250
Forbes
NEW YORK – June 10, 2026 – As part of the Forbes 250 initiative, Forbes today unveiled its Most Successful Immigrants list. Immigrants have long been among the most important drivers of American innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth. The Immigrant 250 is a ranking recognizing the profound impact and extraordinary success of 250 immigrant entrepreneurs, innovators, executives and cultural leaders who have achieved widespread impact across the United States of America.
“Since its inception, America has been a place where people come to turn ambition into opportunity and possibility into reality,” said Chief Content Officer, Randall Lane. “This list recognizes individuals whose ambition and achievements have not only created extraordinary success for themselves, but have also transformed industries and expanded opportunity for others.”
Forbes Immigrant 250
Illustration by Mr.Nelson Design
Developed by Forbes editors and researchers, the methodology places significant emphasis on net worth while also considering each candidate’s Forbes self-made score, professional achievements, leadership, influence and overall impact. The result is a data-driven assessment of the immigrant leaders who have built the most successful careers and enterprises in America. More than half of those featured are billionaires, reflecting the exceptional scale of wealth creation represented on the list.
Notable names on the list include some of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs and business leaders, including Elon Musk, Sergey Brin, Jensen Huang, Rupert Murdoch, Juan Koum, Indra Nooyi and Lisa Su alongside actor and businessman Arnold Schwarzenegger, who tops the list.
The ranking features cultural icons Ryan Reynolds, Wolfgang Puck, Lorne Michaels and Yo-Yo Ma, as well as acclaimed entertainers and athletes such as Pedro Pascal, John Oliver, Neil Young, Padma Lakshmi, Alanis Morissette, David Byrne, Charlize Theron, Hakeem Olajuwon, Monica Seles, Joel Embiid and Albert Pujols.
The ranking also spotlights influential innovators and leaders including Jony Ive, whose design work helped shape the iPhone and modern consumer technology, and Katalin Karikó, whose groundbreaking research helped enable the COVID-19 vaccine. Other honorees include Jim Lee, President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics, and U.S. Senators Bernie Moreno and Mazie Hirono.
“Founded by Scottish immigrant B.C. Forbes, Forbes has long understood the transformative role immigrants play in creating opportunity, building businesses, and driving economic growth—making the Immigrant 250 a natural extension of our mission,” Lane added. Spanning industries from technology and finance to healthcare, entertainment, sports and public service, the list reinforces Forbes’ role as the leading authority on success, entrepreneurship and the individuals shaping the future of business and society.
As part of the package, Luisa Kroll and Giacomo Tognini published a piece on, America Doesn’t Work Without Immigrants—Here’s Why, where more than a dozen immigrant billionaires and entrepreneurs discuss visa policies, green card backlogs and why the U.S. remains a beacon of opportunity.
Forbes will convene the Immigrant 250 honorees for the Forbes Immigrant 250 Celebration in New York in September 2026 tied to Citizenship Day and Constitution Day.
In the yearlong Forbes 250 series celebrating the American Dream and debuting in six parts, the Immigrant 250 list establishes pluralism as one core tenet of the nation’s ideals and successes. Forbes previously celebrated the tentpoles of invention and upward mobility with lists of the 250 greatest American innovators and 250 greatest self-made Americans.
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