Venture capitalist and Shark Tank investor Kevin O'Leary isn't pulling punches when it comes to immigration policy. He's calling restrictions on foreign students one of the "worst ideas" America could pursue for its economy, and he's not interested in the political nuances.

The real value of elite U.S. universities isn't the education itself, O'Leary argues. It's the network. In a recent post on X, he told his followers that students in his Harvard classes will inevitably forget everything he teaches them. What they won't forget? The people sitting next to them.

"What you're not going to forget are the people sitting beside you — they're becoming your network for the rest of your life," he explained.

Here's where O'Leary's argument gets interesting: attracting the world's brightest students creates a powerful economic feedback loop. They come to the U.S., get "indoctrinated into American society," stick around, launch companies and create jobs. It's talent acquisition on a national scale.

"If we don't take them, the Chinese are going to take them," O'Leary said. "I am vehemently against this idea that we're not going to give visas to some genius in wherever to come over here to MIT or Harvard."

But not everyone's buying what O'Leary's selling. His X post drew plenty of skepticism, with critics arguing that America should prioritize building its own talent pipeline before rolling out the red carpet for international students.

"It's a balance between diversity and vetting foreign students who are stealing intellectual property at the direction of their government," one commenter wrote. "Let's focus on lowering the high cost of college tuition so more Americans can afford to attend."

Another pushed back on O'Leary's networking argument entirely. If the real value is in the network, why should the U.S. be handing that lifelong wealth generator to people born elsewhere?

"In many cases [we are] awarding those who are less qualified because they checked a box," the commenter wrote. "Kevin overlooks the fact that our MOST qualified would've outperformed as well."

The debate isn't happening in a vacuum. O'Leary's comments come as the Trump administration has proposed policies that would effectively prevent foreign students from obtaining green cards or citizenship after graduating from American universities. Critics like O'Leary warn this would essentially gift American-educated innovators to competing nations, particularly China.

The data seems to support O'Leary's position, at least on the entrepreneurial front. According to the American Immigration Council, immigrants and their children founded nearly half of the country's largest businesses. In 2025, over 46% of Fortune 500 companies were either founded by immigrants or the children of immigrants.

The trend is even more pronounced among new entrants. Of the 14 companies that appeared on the Fortune 500 list for the first time this year, 10 were founded by immigrants or their children, the American Immigration Council reported.

O'Leary's point is simple: U.S. technology companies and financial firms depend on this global talent pipeline. Cut it off, and America's competitive edge dulls considerably. Whether that argument wins over skeptics who want to see Americans prioritized first remains the central tension in this debate.