Sixteen people of Indian origin figure in Forbes’ list of America’s 250 Greatest Living Optimists, which recognizes founders, investors, philanthropists and educators pursuing long-term opportunities through business, technology and education.
Forbes selected people whose work reflects a willingness to take risks on new ideas and prioritize long-term value over short-term gains for the list marking the United States’ 250th anniversary.
At No. 13, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla ranked highest among the 16 Indian Americans. The founder of Khosla Ventures invests in experimental technologies, including robotics, biotechnology and space manufacturing. Forbes also noted that his firm was the first to invest in OpenAI.
Workday co-founder Aneel Bhusri ranked No. 51. He previously served as a partner at Greylock, where he oversaw investments in cybersecurity company Okta and enterprise software provider ServiceNow.
Read: Two Indian American biomedical engineers named 2027 Siebel Scholars (October 16, 2026)
Hemant Taneja, founder of venture capital firm General Catalyst, ranked No. 81. The firm acquired hospital system Summa Health in 2024 for $515 million, with the aim of bringing advanced technologies into health care.
Investor Rajiv Jain, founder of GQG Partners, ranked No. 82. Asheem Chandna, a Greylock Partners investor focused on enterprise software startups, ranked No. 88.
The list also recognizes leaders in semiconductor manufacturing and technology investment, like Sanjay Mehrotra, who co-founded SanDisk in 1988, ranked No. 102 and now serves as CEO of Micron.
Navin Chaddha, managing partner at Mayfield Fund, ranked No. 118. Ravi Mhatre, co-founder of Lightspeed Venture Partners, was No. 126, followed by Index Ventures partner Shardul Shah at No. 128.
Naval Ravikant, co-founder of AngelList, ranked No. 150. The platform connects angel investors and venture capital firms with early-stage startups.
Read: Two Indian American scientists receive NIH innovative research awards (October 12, 2026)
Neil Mehta, founder of Greenoaks, placed No. 165, while Haystack founder Semil Shah ranked No. 169. Salil Deshpande, founder of Uncorrelated Ventures, appeared at No. 194. Their investment portfolios include companies working in areas such as software, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence.
Education and access to technology also feature among the honorees’ work. Anant Agarwal, founding CEO of online learning platform edX, ranked No. 201. Created by MIT and Harvard in 2012, edX later merged with education technology company 2U in 2021.
Reshma Saujani, who founded Girls Who Code in 2012 to help address the gender gap in technology, ranked No. 234. The organization has taught more than 860,000 people, according to Forbes.
Dharmesh Thakker, a former chip designer who became a venture capitalist at Battery Ventures, ranked No. 238. His investments include data analytics company Databricks.
Together, the 16 Indian American honorees span investment, technology and education. Their inclusion reflects Forbes’ focus on people backing emerging ideas, businesses and educational initiatives with long-term potential.