#4. Thomas Peterffy
Net Worth: $12.6 billion
Country of Origin: Hungary
Company: Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR)
Hungary-born Thomas Peterffy ranks 4th in our list of most successful immigrant in USA and their companies. He first arrived to West Germany fleeing the Soviets, before moving to the U.S. in 1965. He has said he arrived with a single suitcase and no knowledge of the English language, but still managed to make it big. Many say he was “an original flash boy, one of the first to pioneer electronic trading” (Forbes). “To start, he built trading models for other Wall Streeters before founding market-maker Timber Hill in 1982.” Peterffy then turned to the brokerage business and founded Interactive Brokers Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:IBKR), where he now serves as CEO and Chairman of the Board.
