Steve Jobs showing off the iPhone Photo by Matthew Yohe/Wikimedia Commons
Immigrant contributions in the many areas of technology have long been known.
But a huge revelation came to the fore on Wednesday at the Code Conference at Terranea Resort.
According to recode.net website, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Mary Meeker’s annual internet trends report notes that as much as sixty percent of the highest-valued tech companies in the United States were co-founded by first- or second-generation immigrants.
The first-generation Americans alone contribute significantly to the growth and success of the IT sector, with half of all of the most valuable private tech companies co-founded by immigrants.
The website cites some of the well-known companies including Uber, SpaceX, Instacart, AppNexus and FanDuel.
A series of studies recently found that immigrants fuel American innovation and entrepreneurship in a variety of fields including information technology, medical research and engineering.
The studies have gained prominence in the wake of 2016 presidential election campaign during which several candidates questioned the role and impact of immigrants on the U.S. economy, society and security.
Studies conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research released in February 2017 and The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in September 2016 documented how enormously immigrants have contributed to innovation and economic growth in the United States.
Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Inc. was the son of a Syrian immigrant. Similarly Indian and Pakistani origin IT, professionals and entrepreneurs have been the force behind innovation and cutting edge technology that give the United States a massive edge over international competitors.
An international study by McKinsey Global Institute says immigrants contributed two trillion dollars to the GDP in the United States in the year 2015.
