Three Armenians have made Forbes’ list of the “250 greatest self-made Americans”

Three prominent American public figures of Armenian descent have been included in Forbes’ list of the 250 most outstanding self-made individuals in the United States.

Noubar Afeyan, entrepreneur and venture investor, came in at 27th place. In the 1970s, he left Lebanon with his family and started a new life in Montreal essentially from scratch.

Cher (Cherilyn Sarkisian), singer and actress, took 130th place. She grew up in difficult circumstances with a single mother, moved frequently, and dropped out of school before launching her music career.

Ardem Patapoutian, Nobel Prize laureate in Physiology or Medicine, is ranked 207th. During the Lebanese Civil War he was taken captive, and after emigrating he worked as a courier to pay for biology classes.