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India has surpassed Israel to top Forbes 2025 list of foreign-born billionaires in the United States, with 12 Indian-origin individuals making the cut. Among the most prominent names is cybersecurity entrepreneur Jay Chaudhry, who ranks 8th on the list, whose journey from a remote village in India to building a multibillion-dollar tech empire in the US is a striking example of Indian talent making waves worldwide.
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Chaudhry is the founder and CEO of Zscaler, a leading cybersecurity firm he started in 2008. The company went public in March 2018 and has since become a major player in the cloud security space. Chaudhry and his family currently own around 40 per cent of the Nasdaq-listed firm. According to Forbes, his net worth is estimated at $17.9 billion (1,790 crores) in 2025.
From Himalayan village to silicon valley
Born to a small-scale farmer in a small village of Panoh in Himachal Pradesh that had no electricity and running water, Chaudhry went on to get a B.Tech degree from IT-BHU. He then moved to the US in 1980 and completed his master’s degrees in both electronic, computer engineering and industrial engineering and management from the University of Cincinnati, and also attended Harvard Business School.
Zscaler isn’t Chaudhry’s first successful venture. He has founded multiple tech companies over the years. In 1996, he and his wife Jyoti both quit their jobs and poured their life savings into founding SecureIT, his first cybersecurity startup that was pretty successful. After that Chaudhry went on to establish several other firms like CoreHarbor, CipherTrust, and AirDefense, all of which were acquired.
Why this matters
Chaudhry’s inclusion on the Forbes list is significant because it showcases the achievement that the Indian diaspora has achieved globally. Taking over Israel in terms of the number of foreign-born billionaires in the US, leading the 2025 list with 12 Indian-origin billionaires. Israel and Taiwan follow with 11 each.
Overall, there are now 125 foreign-born billionaires living in the US, up from 92 in 2022 hailing from 43 countries. These immigrant entrepreneurs and innovators collectively hold $1.3 trillion (130,000 crores) in wealth, accounting for 18 percent of America’s total billionaire fortune.
The top of the 2025 list features notable names such as Elon Musk (South Africa), Sergey Brin (Russia), Jensen Huang (Taiwan), and Thomas Peterffy (Hungary). Jay Chaudhry now stands tall among them, not just as a tech mogul, but as a powerful symbol of what Indian-origin immigrants can achieve on the world stage.
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