<\/p>\n
Tricon Energy CEO Ignacio Torras poses for a photograph at Rocambolesc, his most recent restaurant venture, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, at Uptown in Houston. Torras, who is originally from Barcelona, is one of the richest immigrants in the United States, according to a 2026 ranking from Forbes magazine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yi-Chin Lee \/ Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
When Forbes began making plans to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States, it was only natural that immigrants would be a major part of the story<\/a>, according to the magazine\u2019s executive editor Luisa Kroll.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to look at it in a dispassionate way, but really talk with people about their success stories<\/a> and the American dream\u2013whether it was really still alive, and what it was that drew people.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n There were 144 foreign-born billionaires<\/a> living in the United States in 2026, worth more than $2.2 trillion collectively, Forbes found, compared with 125 immigrant billionaires in 2025<\/a> and 92 in 2022.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s so many new people, so many interesting newcomers\u201d on the list, said\u00a0Tognini, himself an immigrant from Italy. \u201cThere\u2019s been so much growth and change in the list.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Nearly half of the nation\u2019s richest immigrants made their fortunes in technology, Tognini noted, but the list also includes people who work in finance, manufacturing and health care.<\/p>\n WEALTH:\u00a0The three richest self-made women in Texas are seeing the AI boom boost their wealth, Forbes says<\/a><\/p>\n Nine of the men and women on the Forbes list of the nation\u2019s richest foreign-born citizens live in Texas, and four are based in Houston. In Houston, immigration \u201cis a defining feature of our economy and a key driver of growth<\/a>,\u201d the Greater Houston Partnership\u2019s Julie McGowen noted in April. Nearly a quarter of the region\u2019s residents are foreign-born, she noted, and immigrants make up about a third of the Houston workforce and own more than 40% of its businesses.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Here are the\u00a0foreign-born billionaires in Texas:\u00a0<\/p>\n Elon Musk<\/p>\n The wealthiest immigrant currently living in the United States, and the richest person in the world, is Elon Musk, who briefly became the world\u2019s first trillionaire<\/a> after his company SpaceX held its initial public offering in June. Originally from South Africa, Musk now lives in Austin, according to Forbes, and currently \u00a0has a net worth of about $781 billion<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Thai Lee\u00a0<\/p>\n Tech entrepreneur Thai Lee<\/a>, born in Bangkok, ranks as the No. 26 richest foreign-born citizen in the United States, with a net worth of about $8 billion. Lee, who lives in Austin, is the CEO of IT infrastructure company\u00a0SHI International, which traces its roots to a small software reseller she and her ex-husband bought in the 1980s and is now considered one of the largest woman-owned businesses in the United States. Last month, Lee was recognized, in a different Forbes ranking, as one of the wealthiest self-made women in the United States<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Steven\u00a0Udvar-Hazy<\/p>\n After immigrating from Hungary to New York as a child, Steven Udvar-Hazy<\/a> took a job packing boxes in a warehouse for 30 cents an hour. He would go on to pursue a career in the aviation industry and is considered the creator of the airplane leasing industry. In a 2025 interview with Forbes, he said that his experiences as an immigrant fueled his drive as an entrepreneur<\/a>. \u201cWhen you live in an oppressed, totalitarian country like I did, and you have no money, there\u2019s no sense of having a future or that life will get better,\u201d he said. \u201cThe motivation level is just totally different than it is for a person that was born and raised here.\u201d \u00a0Udvar-Hazy now lives in Westlake, north of Dallas, and ranks as the No. 55 richest immigrant in the United States, with a net worth of $4.6 billion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Luke\u00a0Nosek<\/p>\n New to the 10-figure club is venture capitalist Luke Nosek<\/a>, whose net worth crossed the billion-dollar mark as a result of the SpaceX IPO. Originally from Poland, Nosek moved to the Chicago suburbs in high school, studied at the University of Illinois and became a co-founder of PayPal. He now lives in Austin, according to Forbes, and the SpaceX IPO brought his net worth to $3.7 billion, making him the No. 64 richest immigrant in the United States.<\/p>\n Albert\u00a0Chao, James Chao and Dorothy Chao Jenkins<\/p>\n Siblings Albert Chao<\/a>, James Chao<\/a>, and Dorothy Chao Jenkins<\/a> of Houston rank at No. 72 on this list, with each having a net worth of $3.2 billion. Their parents, Ting Tsung “T.T.” Chao and Wei Fong, brought the family from Taiwan to Houston in the 1980s, where T.T., whose background was in petrochemicals, acquired a polyethylene plant in Lake Charles, Louisiana. That business has grown into the chemicals giant Westlake Corp.<\/a>, a Fortune 500 company; all three siblings have held leadership roles at the company. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Lisa\u00a0Su<\/p>\n As CEO of semiconductor firm Advanced Micro Devices, Lisa Su<\/a> \u201chas led one of the greatest recent turnarounds in the technology sector,\u201d according to Forbes, as well as becoming the No. 79 richest immigrant in the U.S., with a net worth of $2.9 billion. Born in Taiwan, Su immigrated to New York City when she was 3 years old; she now lives in Austin, where AMD has a major presence, even as the company maintains its headquarters in California. Su was also recognized on Forbes\u2019 ranking of the 100 wealthiest self-made women in the United States<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n Ignacio Torras<\/p>\n Ranking No. 123 on this ranking with a net worth of $1.5 billion is Houstonian Ignacio Torras<\/a>, an energy trader who has also made his mark on the city\u2019s food and sports scenes. Originally from Barcelona, Torras emigrated to Brazil as a teenager before coming to Houston and pursuing a career in the chemicals industry. In \u00a0addition founding \u00a0and plastics distributor Tricon Energyin 1996, he is the restaurateur behind Houston\u2019s Michelin-starred BCN, and in 2024 launched the Genuine Cup<\/a>, a soccer tournament for adults with disabilities which will be held in Rice Stadium next week.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tricon Energy CEO Ignacio Torras poses for a photograph at Rocambolesc, his most recent restaurant venture, Wednesday, May…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":385227,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-385226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385226\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}