Almost 13% of the U.S. population is foreign-born, for a total of over 40 million people, according to The Brookings Institution.
The belief that anyone can pull themselves up by their bootstraps in America still resonates today and drives many immigrants to come to the States try their luck. And while success is rare and never guaranteed, some notable examples have managed to not only get ahead in America, but achieve extraordinary success.
We've compiled a list of 12 immigrants who came to the U.S. with practically nothing and realized the American Dream — with more than enough money and acclaim to show for their efforts.
Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google
Born in Moscow, Russia, when it was still part of the Soviet Union, Google co-founder Brin and his family emigrated from the U.S.S.R. when he was just 6 years old. While enrolled in a computer science Ph.D. program at Stanford University, Brin met Larry Page and eventually dropped out to start Google.
Today, Brin is responsible for Google's special projects like Google Glass and self-driving cars. He owns 16% of the company and has an estimated net worth of $24.4 billion.
Gurbaksh Chahal, founder of Gwallet
Chahal's family comes from Punjab, India, where he was born in 1982. He and his family moved to San Jose, California, in 1986 with just $25.
Chahal dropped out of high school at 16 and started his own company, ClickAgent, which he sold for $40 million less than two years later.
BlueLithium, his second company, was bought by Yahoo for a cool $300 million in cash. He's worth more than $100 million today, and has had the opportunity to meet President Obama.
Do Won Chang, co-founder and CEO of Forever 21
Do Won and Jin Sook, the husband-and-wife team behind Forever 21, didn't always have it easy. After moving to America from Korea in 1981, Do Won had to work as both a janitor and gas station attendant to make ends meet. They opened their first clothing store in 1984.
Forever 21 is now an international, 480-store empire that rakes in around $3 billion in sales a year.
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