Karim Atiyeh, co-founder and chief technology officer of fintech startup Ramp, has become the newest US billionaire with Arab roots.
The 35-year-old Lebanese-born technologist now has a net worth of $1.3 billion, bringing the total number of US billionaires of Arab origin to six, with a combined net worth of $17.7 billion, according to Forbes’ real-time billionaire rankings as of July 14, 2025.
His ascent comes as the US records a surge in foreign-born billionaires. Forbes’ America’s Richest Immigrants 2025 report, published in July, lists 125 foreign-born billionaires residing in the US, hailing from 41 countries—but all having built their wealth in America.
Who is Karim Atiyeh?
Born and raised in Lebanon, Karim Atiyeh moved to the US for his studies and stayed to build his career. After earning a Master’s degree in Computer Science from Harvard University in 2011, he moved to New York and began working at consulting firm Oliver Wyman, where he spent two years doing what he later described as “PowerPoint and Excel.”
Wanting to return to coding and product development, Atiyeh co-founded Paribus in 2014 with his Harvard classmate Eric Glyman and friend Gene Lee. The price-tracking app automatically secured refunds for online shoppers when prices dropped.
That same year, the startup was accepted into Y Combinator, giving it early momentum and investor exposure. In 2016, Capital One acquired Paribus for an undisclosed amount. Atiyeh and Glyman stayed on to run the platform within Capital One for two and a half years before leaving to launch Ramp.
How he became a billionaire
In 2019, the trio launched Ramp, a fintech startup. Each co-founder holds an estimated 10% stake in the company, according to Forbes. Ramp is a US-based financial operations platform, offering AI-powered tools that help businesses automate expense management, bill payments, procurement, travel, and treasury.
When Ramp reached a $13 billion valuation in March 2025, all three became billionaires, each with a net worth of around $1.3 billion. Just three months later, the company’s valuation climbed to $16 billion. As Ramp’s CTO, Atiyeh has led the product and engineering teams, helping drive the company’s rapid rise as one of the fastest-growing fintechs in the US
Other US billionaires with Arab roots
Atiyeh now joins a select group of five other Arab-born billionaires in the US. Leading the group is Jordanian-born private equity investor Ramzi Musallam, with a net worth of $9.2 billion.
Egyptian-born media mogul Haim Saban follows with $3.1 billion, while Moroccan-born hedge fund manager Marc Lasry holds $1.9 billion. Lebanese-American biotech investor Noubar Afeyan is worth $1.2 billion, and Iraqi-born software entrepreneur David Hindawi has a $1 billion fortune.
With Atiyeh’s addition, the number of Arab-born billionaires in the US rises to six, with a combined net worth of approximately $17.7 billion—highlighting the growing influence of Arab immigrants in American business and innovation.
source:Forbes
.webp)
