4 Ukrainians make Forbes' ranking of wealthiest immigrants in US
Ukraine entered the top 10 countries by the number of billionaire immigrants in the U.S., with four Ukrainians securing spots in Forbes' ranking of the country's wealthiest immigrants, Forbes Ukraine reported on July 15.
The four Ukrainian billionaires have combined fortunes totaling $25.3 billion.
Three of them have built their wealth in technology through companies like WhatsApp, OnlyFans, PayPal, and Affirm, reflecting Ukraine's growing reputation as a technology powerhouse, with entrepreneurs creating billion-dollar companies like GitLab and Grammarly.
Leading the Ukrainian contingent at ninth place in the list of the U.S.'s wealthiest immigrants, Jan Koum built his $16.9 billion fortune as WhatsApp's co-founder, Forbes Ukraine reported.
The messaging app pioneer sold his company to Facebook for $22 billion in 2014 and now invests through his firm, Newlands, which holds nearly $10 million in Meta shares.
Leonid Radvinsky ranks 50th with $3.8 billion after acquiring OnlyFans in 2018. The Ukraine-born entrepreneur previously founded adult entertainment businesses as a student before buying the content platform.
OnlyFans generated $1.3 billion in revenue last year, enabling Radvinsky to collect $1.1 billion in dividends since 2021, according to Forbes Ukraine .
Renewable energy developer Invenergy LLC has propelled Michael Polsky to 75th place with $2.5 billion. His company plans to build 1,000 wind turbines in Kansas and a 1,300-kilometer (800-mile) transmission line worth $7 billion.
Rounding out the group at 85th place, Max Levchin brings $2.1 billion from his roles as PayPal co-founder and Affirm Holdings CEO. The fintech executive owns nearly 11% of Affirm, which offers buy-now-pay-later credit services.
The U.S. now hosts a record 125 foreign-born billionaires from 41 countries, according to Forbes.
Ukraine's tech sector has shown remarkable growth, with professionals increasing from 75,000 in 2014 to 307,000 in 2023, now accounting for nearly 5% of the country's GDP.
Russia's full-scale invasion significantly impacted the sector. Of the 285,000 tech specialists before the war, up to 57,000 moved abroad, while another 52,000 relocated to safer western cities like Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk.
The sector, which industry leaders describe as Ukraine's "oil and gold," faces ongoing challenges as martial law restrictions prevent male tech specialists from traveling abroad to meet with international clients including Deloitte, Siemens, Google, and Microsoft.
