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Founder Origins

37% of these founders were born somewhere else.

26 of 71 founders behind 40 landmark exits were born outside the country where their company was headquartered when it exited.

Founders
71
Exits
40
Birth countries
20
Born abroad
37%

Some of the founders behind landmark startup exits since 2005 were born in Pretoria, Medellín, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur and São Paulo, and built their companies somewhere else. The list below follows each of them from where they were born to where their company exited.

Where a founder starts says little about how far the company goes.

The ledger

United States28 founders

  1. Chris Hughes

    Born in United States

    Facebook (Meta) · IPO at $104B · 2012

  2. Dustin Moskovitz

    Born in Gainesville, Florida, United States

    Facebook (Meta) · IPO at $104B · 2012

  3. Mark Zuckerberg

    Born in White Plains, New York, United States

    Facebook (Meta) · IPO at $104B · 2012

  4. Travis Kalanick

    Born in Los Angeles, California, United States

    Uber · IPO at $82.4B · 2019

  5. R.J. Scaringe

    Born in United States

    Rivian · IPO at $76.4B · 2021

  6. Brian Armstrong

    Born in United States

    Coinbase · Direct listing at $65.3B · 2021

  7. Fred Ehrsam

    Born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States

    Coinbase · Direct listing at $65.3B · 2021

  8. Aman Sanger

    Born in New York, United States

    Anysphere (Cursor) · Acquired by SpaceX for $60B · 2026

  9. Michael Truell

    Born in New York City, United States

    Anysphere (Cursor) · Acquired by SpaceX for $60B · 2026

  10. Brian Chesky

    Born in Niskayuna, United States

    Airbnb · IPO at $47.3B · 2020

  11. Joe Gebbia

    Born in Atlanta, United States

    Airbnb · IPO at $47.3B · 2020

  12. Nathan Blecharczyk

    Born in Boston, United States

    Airbnb · IPO at $47.3B · 2020

  13. Andy Fang

    Born in San Jose, United States

    DoorDash · IPO at $38.7B · 2020

  14. Erik Cassel

    Born in United States

    Roblox · Direct listing at $29.1B · 2021

  15. Bobby Murphy

    Born in Berkeley, United States

    Snap · IPO at $23.6B · 2017

  16. Evan Spiegel

    Born in Los Angeles, United States

    Snap · IPO at $23.6B · 2017

  17. Dylan Field

    Born in United States

    Figma · IPO at $19.3B · 2025

  18. Brian Acton

    Born in United States

    WhatsApp · Acquired by Facebook for $19B · 2014

  19. Biz Stone

    Born in Boston, United States

    Twitter · IPO at $18.3B · 2013

  20. Evan Williams

    Born in Clarks, United States

    Twitter · IPO at $18.3B · 2013

  21. Jack Dorsey

    Born in St. Louis, United States

    Twitter · IPO at $18.3B · 2013

  22. Ben Silbermann

    Born in Des Moines, United States

    Pinterest · IPO at $12.6B · 2019

  23. Will ShuBorn abroad

    Born in United States

    Deliveroo · IPO at $10.5B · 2021

  24. Jeremy Allaire

    Born in Philadelphia, United States

    Circle · IPO at $8B · 2025

  25. Chris Wanstrath

    Born in Cincinnati, United States

    GitHub · Acquired by Microsoft for $7.5B · 2018

  26. Tom Preston-Werner

    Born in Dubuque, United States

    GitHub · Acquired by Microsoft for $7.5B · 2018

  27. Chad Hurley

    Born in United States

    YouTube · Acquired by Google for $1.65B · 2006

  28. Kevin Systrom

    Born in Holliston, United States

    Instagram · Acquired by Facebook for $1B · 2012

China11 founders

  1. Jack Ma

    Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Alibaba · IPO at $176B · 2014

  2. Zhu Yiming

    Born in Yancheng, Jiangsu, China

    ChangXin Memory (CXMT) · IPO at $85.5B · 2026

  3. Cheng Wei

    Born in Shangrao, Jiangxi, China

    DiDi · IPO at $73B · 2021

  4. Cheng Yixiao

    Born in Tieling, Liaoning, China

    Kuaishou · IPO at $60.9B · 2021

  5. Su Hua

    Born in Xiangxi, Hunan, China

    Kuaishou · IPO at $60.9B · 2021

  6. Lei Jun

    Born in Xiantao, China

    Xiaomi · IPO at $54B · 2018

  7. Lin Bin

    Born in Guangzhou, China

    Xiaomi · IPO at $54B · 2018

  8. Wang Huiwen

    Born in China

    Meituan · IPO at $52.8B · 2018

  9. Wang Xing

    Born in Longyan, China

    Meituan · IPO at $52.8B · 2018

  10. Tony XuBorn abroad

    Born in Nanjing, China

    DoorDash · IPO at $38.7B · 2020

  11. Xu Yangtian (Chris Xu)Born abroad

    Born in Zibo, China

    SHEIN · IPO at $26.5B · 2026

Brazil5 founders

  1. Eduardo SaverinBorn abroad

    Born in São Paulo, Brazil

    Facebook (Meta) · IPO at $104B · 2012

  2. Cristina Junqueira

    Born in Ribeirão Preto, Brazil

    Nubank · IPO at $41.5B · 2021

  3. Guilherme Benchimol

    Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    XP Inc. (XP Investimentos) · IPO at $14.9B · 2019

  4. Marcelo Maisonnave

    Born in Brazil

    XP Inc. (XP Investimentos) · IPO at $14.9B · 2019

  5. Mike KriegerBorn abroad

    Born in São Paulo, Brazil

    Instagram · Acquired by Facebook for $1B · 2012

Sweden4 founders

  1. Daniel Ek

    Born in Stockholm, Sweden

    Spotify · Direct listing at $23.5B · 2018

  2. Martin Lorentzon

    Born in Sweden

    Spotify · Direct listing at $23.5B · 2018

  3. Sebastian Siemiatkowski

    Born in Uppsala, Sweden

    Klarna · IPO at $15.1B · 2025

  4. Niklas ZennströmBorn abroad

    Born in Järfälla, Sweden

    Skype · Acquired by eBay for $2.6B · 2005

Canada2 founders

  1. Garrett CampBorn abroad

    Born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

    Uber · IPO at $82.4B · 2019

  2. David BaszuckiBorn abroad

    Born in Winnipeg, Canada

    Roblox · Direct listing at $29.1B · 2021

Estonia2 founders

  1. Ahti HeinlaBorn abroad

    Born in Tallinn, Estonia (then USSR)

    Skype · Acquired by eBay for $2.6B · 2005

  2. Jaan TallinnBorn abroad

    Born in Tallinn, Estonia (then USSR)

    Skype · Acquired by eBay for $2.6B · 2005

India2 founders

  1. Vijay Shekhar Sharma

    Born in Aligarh, India

    Paytm (One97 Communications) · IPO at $18.7B · 2021

  2. Deepinder Goyal

    Born in Muktsar, India

    Zomato · IPO at $8.6B · 2021

Israel2 founders

  1. Assaf RappaportBorn abroad

    Born in Israel

    Wiz · Acquired by Google for $32B · 2026

  2. Amnon Shashua

    Born in Israel

    Mobileye · IPO at $5.3B · 2014

Malaysia2 founders

  1. Tan Hooi LingBorn abroad

    Born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Grab · SPAC merger at $39.6B · 2021

  2. Tang TanBorn abroad

    Born in Malaysia

    io · Acquired by OpenAI for $6.5B · 2025

Taiwan2 founders

  1. Joe TsaiBorn abroad

    Born in Taipei, Taiwan

    Alibaba · IPO at $176B · 2014

  2. Steve ChenBorn abroad

    Born in Taipei, Taiwan

    YouTube · Acquired by Google for $1.65B · 2006

United Kingdom2 founders

  1. Jony IveBorn abroad

    Born in London, United Kingdom

    io · Acquired by OpenAI for $6.5B · 2025

  2. Nick SwinmurnBorn abroad

    Born in United Kingdom

    Zappos · Acquired by Amazon for $0.847B · 2009

Colombia1 founder

  1. David VélezBorn abroad

    Born in Medellín, Colombia

    Nubank · IPO at $41.5B · 2021

Denmark1 founder

  1. Janus FriisBorn abroad

    Born in Copenhagen, Denmark

    Skype · Acquired by eBay for $2.6B · 2005

France1 founder

  1. Benoit DagevilleBorn abroad

    Born in Antibes, France

    Snowflake · IPO at $42.4B · 2020

Germany1 founder

  1. Jawed KarimBorn abroad

    Born in Merseburg, Germany (then East Germany)

    YouTube · Acquired by Google for $1.65B · 2006

Japan1 founder

  1. Stanley TangBorn abroad

    Born in Japan

    DoorDash · IPO at $38.7B · 2020

Pakistan1 founder

  1. Sualeh AsifBorn abroad

    Born in Pakistan

    Anysphere (Cursor) · Acquired by SpaceX for $60B · 2026

South Africa1 founder

  1. Elon MuskBorn abroad

    Born in Pretoria, South Africa

    SpaceX · IPO at $1.77T · 2026

South Korea1 founder

  1. Bom KimBorn abroad

    Born in Seoul, South Korea

    Coupang · IPO at $62.9B · 2021

Ukraine1 founder

  1. Jan KoumBorn abroad

    Born in Ukraine (then USSR)

    WhatsApp · Acquired by Facebook for $19B · 2014

Building from somewhere investors overlook?

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How this list was made

What counts as an exit. The first liquidity event of a privately funded company: an IPO, direct listing, SPAC merger, or an acquisition that closed while the company was still private. Secondary listings, re-IPOs, subsidiaries and acquisitions of already-public companies are left out. This is a curated set of landmark exits, not a complete ranking.

Values. Valuation at the IPO price (fully diluted where reported) for IPOs, at the reference price for direct listings, at the implied deal value for SPAC mergers, and the announced deal value for acquisitions. First-day closing prices are not used. Non-US-dollar figures use the exchange rate given by the cited source.

Born abroad. A founder is counted as born abroad when their birth country differs from the country of the company's headquarters at the time of the exit. Birth countries are shown by today's borders.

Sources. Every exit and every founder's birthplace is cited below. Founders whose birthplace could not be sourced are left out rather than guessed, so some companies show fewer founders than they had. For a few companies with large founding groups, only the lead co-founders are listed. Current as of October 2026.

Exit sources (40)
Founder sources (71)

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