Henry Ford, Steve Jobs, William Boeing: These Fortune 500 founders are the American-born children of immigrants
The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld birthright citizenship—the principle that children born in the United States are automatically U.S. citizens regardless of their parents’ immigration status—rejecting an executive order by President Donald Trump that sought to undo that longstanding constitutional principle. Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for a 6-3 majority, called citizenship “the right to have rights,” and wrote that the Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to “every free-born person in this land.” While the ruling settled a question that had been pending since Trump signed the order on the first day of his second term, the economic case for birthright citizenship was never really in doubt. What do Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, William Boeing and many other founders have in common, besides being on the Fortune 500 list? They’re all the American-born children of immigrants. Apple was co-founded by Steve Jobs, who born in San Francisco to a Syrian immigrant father and later adopted. In addition to redefining what the computer and cellphone industry means today, Jobs led Apple to become a major economic driver in the country. Apple’s most recent fiscal year ended with $416 billion in revenue, making it one of the most valuable companies on earth. Costco’s Jim Sinegal was the son of Canadian immigrants whose own family had emigrated from Romania. In fiscal year 2025, Costco posted $269.9 billion in net sales. While he didn’t technically found McDonald’s, Ray Kroc, son of Czech immigrants who settled in Illinois, turned it into the most recognized fast food brand on earth. New York-born Marc Randolph, Netflix‘s co-founder and original CEO, is the son of an Austrian immigrant. William Boeing, born in Detroit to a German immigrant father, founded the company that still manufactures more commercial aircraft than any other in the world, while Bernie Marcus, born in Newark to Russian Jew