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    Business Leaders React to Trump’s H-1B Visa Fee

    Press RoomBy No Comments4 Mins Read

    • The Trump administration introduced a $100,000 application fee on H-1B visas.
    • Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Netflix chairman Reed Hastings have weighed in on the move.
    • “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary said the new H-1B visa fee could “hurt innovation long-term.”

    Business leaders such as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Netflix chairman Reed Hastings have been weighing in on President Donald Trump’s new $100,000 fee on H-1B visas.

    The US issues roughly 85,000 new H-1B visas via a lottery system every year. The H-1B program is highly popular among US companies looking to hire foreign workers for in-demand roles such as tech and engineering.

    On Friday, Trump signed an executive order raising the H-1B visa application fee by $100,000. The White House told Business Insider that the fee would only apply to new applicants, not those renewing their H-1B visas.

    The sudden move has sparked concerns among Big Tech firms like Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft, whose workers are on H-1B visas. All three companies told their employees on the visa not to leave the US or to quickly return to the country if they were overseas.

    Jensen Huang


    Nvidia's cofounder and CEO, Jensen Huang, at the VivaTech trade show at the Parc des Expositions de la Porte de Versailles in Paris on June 11, 2025.

    Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he was “glad to see President Trump making the moves he’s making” on immigration.

    Chesnot via Getty Images


    Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang expressed optimism about Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee during an interview with CNBC on Monday.

    “We want all the brightest minds to come to the US, and remember immigration is the foundation of the American dream. And we represent the American dream,” Huang said in a joint interview with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

    The pair announced on Monday that Nvidia was making a $100 billion investment in OpenAI.

    “Immigration is really important to our company and is really important to our nation’s future, and I’m glad to see President Trump making the moves he’s making,” Huang added.

    Sam Altman


    Sam Altman is holding a microphone in his right hand and gesturing with his left hand.

    OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, “streamlining that process and also sort of aligning financial incentives seems good to me.”

    Andrew Harnik via Getty Images


    OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the Trump administration’s introduction of a $100,000 fee to the H-1B visa program was the right move.

    “We need to get the smartest people in the country, and streamlining that process and also sort of aligning financial incentives seems good to me,” Altman told CNBC during his joint interview with Jensen Huang on Monday.

    Reed Hastings


    Netflix cofounder and chairman Reed Hastings speaking at The New York Times DealBook Summit in New York in 2022.

    Netflix cofounder and chairman Reed Hastings said Trump’s $100,000 fee means the H-1B visa will be “used just for very high-value jobs.”

    Michael M. Santiago via Getty Images


    Netflix cofounder and chairman Reed Hastings praised Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee, calling it a “great solution” compared to the existing lottery system.

    Hastings said in an X post on Sunday that he has “worked on H-1B politics for 30 years.”

    “It will mean H1-B is used just for very high-value jobs, which will mean no lottery needed, and more certainty for those jobs,” he wrote.

    Kevin O’Leary


    Kevin O'Leary wearing a suit and sitting on a white chair.

    “I think what this does is hurt innovation long-term,” investor Kevin O’Leary said of Trump’s $100,000 H-1B visa fee.

    Christopher Willard/Disney via Getty Images


    “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary said the $100,000 fee on H-1B visas would hurt American companies and limit their access to talent.

    “Apple, Oracle, Google all started in a garage. They could have not afforded to do this. And all of those companies took advantage of talent they couldn’t find in the United States as they grew,” O’Leary told Fox Business’s “Varney & Co.” on Monday.

    “I think what this does is hurt innovation long-term. I agree that it’s going to push these really talented people into other countries,” he added.

    O’Leary said that the US government should, in fact, be paying foreign graduates to stay and work in the US.

    “Why train them and kick them out? And if they’re available, let’s take them all and not charge a 100 grand. We should give them a 100 grand to come here,” he said.

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