Meet Tech Leaders Who Once Benefited From The H-1B Visa Program: From Elon Musk And Satya Nadella To Sundar Pichai – Check Net Worth And Annual Fees

US President Donald Trump recently announced a major hike in H-1B visa fees, raising the application cost from $10,000 to $100,000. The move aims to prioritize highly skilled professionals while affecting prospective immigrants seeking employment in the US tech sector. 

The H-1B visa program, introduced in 1990, allows skilled professionals to work in the US. It has played a pivotal role in shaping global tech leadership, benefiting figures like Elon Musk, Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai, and many others in influential positions. (Image Credit: Freepik)

He moved to the US in the 1990s and switched from a green card to an H-1B visa in 1994. This allowed him to continue at Microsoft, eventually rising to CEO. Nadella’s net worth is estimated at $1.1 billion. 

Jyoti Bansal received his H-1B visa in 2000 and transitioned to a green card after seven years. He founded AppDynamics, which Cisco acquired for $3.7 billion in 2017, creating significant wealth for hundreds of employees and establishing him as a successful immigrant entrepreneur.  

South African-born Elon Musk obtained an H-1B visa in the 1990s after studying in the US. He credits the program for enabling skilled immigrants to build transformative companies. Musk’s current net worth is approximately $415.6 billion as of 2025.  

Sundar Pichai arrived in the US as a student and later received an H-1B visa, which allowed him to join Google. Rising from product manager to CEO, his journey highlights the program’s role in nurturing global tech leaders. His net worth exceeds $1 billion. 

Andrew Ng, co-founder of Coursera, DeepLearning.AI, and Google Brain, came to the US on an F-1 visa in 1993. He later obtained an H-1B visa while working at Stanford University, enabling him to advance his career in AI and online education.

Eric Yuan faced multiple rejections before securing an H-1B visa in 1997. After obtaining it, he founded Zoom, which became one of the world’s most widely used video conferencing platforms, illustrating the visa program’s impact on entrepreneurial success.