CNN Money: Immigrants made American business what it is today

Published: September 5, 2017

Imagine the United States with no AT&T. No Procter & Gamble. No Bank of America.

Also no Apple, Google or eBay. And no upstarts like Tesla, SpaceX or Uber.

These companies share one important characteristic besides the thousands of employees who depend on them for a paycheck: They all were founded or co-founded by an immigrant, or the child of immigrants.

As the Trump administration scraps DACA, the policy that allowed undocumented immigrants who came to the United States as children to stay and work in America, consider just how many American companies have immigrant roots.

Because while many people think of immigrants as employees or consumers, they’re also among the nation’s most important job creators and employers.

It’s not a new phenomenon. Procter & Gamble, the giant consumer products company behind Tide detergent, Pampers diapers and Bounty paper towels, was founded in 1837 by brothers-in-law who had immigrated from England and Ireland.

AT&T was started in 1875 by Alexander Graham Bell, a Scottish immigrant, while A.P. Giannini, the son of Italian immigrants, started Bank of America in 1904 under the name Bank of Italy in San Francisco.

Read the full story from CNN Money: “Immigrants made American business what it is today”

Related Resources

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