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FORBESASIA 3/20/2016@12:46PM 4,448views

ImmigrantsAndTheirBillionDollar
Startups

ElonMusk,CEOofUSautomotiveandenergystoragecompany
Tesla,presentshisoutlookonclimatechangeattheParis
SorbonneUniversityinParisonDecember2,2015./AFP/ERIC
PIERMONT(PhotocreditshouldreadERICPIERMONT/AFP/Getty
Images)

AnewpaperbytheNationalFoundationfor
AmericanPolicy,anonprofit,nonpartisan
researchorganizationsaysimmigrantsplaya
keyroleincreatingnew,fastgrowingcompanies.
Immigrantshavestartedmorethanhalf(44of
87)ofAmericasstartupcompaniesvaluedat
abilliondollarsormoreandarekeymembers
ofmanagementorproductdevelopmentteamsin
over70%(62of87)ofthesecompanies.The
researchfindsthatamongthebilliondollar
startupcompanies,immigrantfoundershave
createdanaverageofapproximately760jobsper
companyintheU.S.Thecollectivevalueofthe
44immigrantfoundedcompaniesis$168
billion,whichisclosetohalfthevalueofthe
stockmarketsofRussiaorMexico.
Foritspaper,NFAPgatheredinformationonthe
87U.S.startupcompaniesvaluedat
over$1billion(asofJanuary1,2016)thatareyet
tobepubliclytradedontheU.S.stockmarket.
Basedonthisresearch,itsoundedanoteof
caution:Newimmigrationrestrictionswould
likelypreventmanyfuturecuttingedge
companiesfrombeingestablishedinthe

U.S.Specifically,ifS.2394,abillbySenatorsTed
Cruz(RTX)andJeffSessions(RAL),hadbeen
ineffectoverthepastdecade,few,ifany,ofthe
billiondollarstartupcompanieswithan
immigrantfounderwouldhavebeenstartedin
theU.S.
Amongthereportskeyfindings:
Theresearchfindsthat51%,or44
outof87,ofthecountrys$1billion
startupcompanieshadatleastone
immigrantfounder,illustratingthe
increasingimportanceand
contributionsofimmigrantstothe
U.S.economy.
Thisstudy,inafirst,examinesthe
roleimmigrantsplayonthe
managementorproduct
developmentteamsinleading
privatecompaniesininformation
technology,health,energy,financial
services,andothersectors.The
researchfound62ofthe87
companies,or71%,hadatleastone
immigranthelpingthecompany
growandinnovatebyfillingakey
managementorproduct
developmentposition.Chief
technologyofficer,CEOandvice
presidentofengineeringarethemost
commonpositionsheldby
immigrantsinthesebilliondollar
startupcompanies.(ThuanPham,
theCTOatUber,fledfromwar
ravagedVietnaminaboatwithhis
familywhenhewas10yearsoldand
eventuallyreachedtheU.S.onan
asylumvisa.)
Thebilliondollarstartupcompanies
withanimmigrantfounderexcelat
jobcreation.Theleadingcompanies
foremploymentareSpaceX(founded
bySouthAfricanbornElonMusk
whosvaluedat$13.5billionand
whosecompanyhas4,000
employees),MuSigma(foundedby
IndiasDhirajRajaramandwhich
has3,500employees)andPalantir
Technologies(foundedbyGermanys
PeterThiel,PayPalcounderand
earlyFacebookinvestor,whotoday
has2,000employeesatPalantir.)
Uber,cofoundedbyaCanadian
immigrant,directlyemploysatleast
900peoplebutreportshaving
162,037activedrivers(completed
atleastfourtrips)intheU.S.asof
December2014(nottomentionthe
severalthousandactivedriversit
workswithintherestoftheworld.)
Companieswithimmigrantfounders
haveproducedavarietyofuseful
productsandservicestobenefitU.S.
consumersandmakeU.S.companies
moreproductive.Uberhas
transformedtravelinAmerican

cities,whileSpaceXaimstoenable
AmericanstotraveltoMars.Gusto
(byIsraelsTomerLondon)makesit
easierforemployerstoadminister
payroll,whileZocDoc(byGerman
OliverKharraz)allowspatientsto
findinnetworkneighborhood
doctorsandbookappointments
online.Stripe,startedbytwoIrish
immigrantbrothers,facilitatesonline
paymentsforbusinessesandtheir
customers,whileAppDynamics,
Cloudera,CloudFlare,Tanium,
Actifio,MuSigmaandothershelp
U.S.companiestomaintainstrong
informationtechnologysystemsto
competeintheglobalmarketplace.
Sportsfansenjoyplayingfantasy
sportsatFanDuel(setupbyaBritish
trio)andgamersrelishtheofferings
ofRazer(whosefounderis
Singaporean).
EnteringtheU.S.asaninternational
studenthasshowntobeagood
avenueforstartingsuccessfulU.S.
companies.Nearlyonequarter(20)
ofthe87billiondollarU.S.startup
companiesandalmosthalfofthe
companieswithanimmigrant
founderhadafounderwhofirst
cametoAmericaasaninternational
student.
With14entrepreneursonthelist,
Indiawastheleadingcountryof
originfortheimmigrantfoundersof
billiondollarcompanies,followedby
CanadaandtheUnitedKingdom
with8each,Israel(7),Germany(4),
China(3),France(2),Ireland(2)and
12othercountrieswithone
(includingfromAzerbaijan,Egypt,
Iraq,andUzbekistan.)
Notsurprisingly,Californiawasthe
headquartersof32ofthe44
immigrantfoundedcompanies,
followedbyNewYork(6),
Massachusetts(4)andIllinois(2).

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