A Forbes report highlighting billionaire immigrants who started their American journey with H-1B visas features a limited number of Indian individuals. Notably, Raj Sardana, founder and CEO of Innova Solutions, achieved a $2 billion fortune by building his business from scratch.
Raj Sardana, born in Delhi in 1960 to Punjabi parents who had migrated during the 1947 partition, faced significant hardship in his youth. As he recounted to Authority Magazine, his family lived for 20 years in basic government housing with minimal amenities. Despite these challenges, his parents emphasized education and instilled a strong work ethic.
In 1981, Sardana moved to the U.S. to pursue a master's degree in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech. With just a hundred dollars to his name, he took a job at the university cafeteria to support himself. "I started my life from scratch here," he recalled. "I got a job at the cafeteria of Georgia Tech and supported myself through college."
After graduating, he secured an H-1 visa-an early version of today's H-1B visa-to work at Howmet Aerospace. This program has since allowed skilled professionals from around the world to contribute to the U.S. economy.
By 1987, Sardana had built a successful career at Teledyne CAE, working on engines for Tomahawk missiles. However, with the end of the Cold War in 1990, missile production halted, and he lost his job.
"I had just bought a house with a mortgage, had a six-month-old daughter, and my parents were living with me. At that moment, I had no income to support my family. Somehow, I gathered enough courage to decide I would not work for corporate America anymore," he shared in Authority Magazine.
With $25,000 in savings, he launched his own business. Over the next decade, that venture grew into Innova Solutions, an IT services firm that now employs over 50,000 people worldwide.
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