Ro Khanna is an American politician, attorney, professor, and author who has a net worth of $150 million. That makes him one of the richest members of Congress.

Ro Khanna is best known as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 17th congressional district, which includes much of Silicon Valley. He was first elected to Congress in 2016 after defeating longtime incumbent Mike Honda, and he has built a national profile as a progressive Democrat with close ties to the technology industry. In Congress, Khanna has focused on manufacturing, technology policy, climate issues, labor rights, anti-corruption reforms, and a foreign policy centered on restraint and diplomacy. He has also been associated with efforts to expand American investment in science and advanced manufacturing, including legislative ideas that helped lead into the CHIPS and Science Act.

The vast majority of Ro Khanna's net worth is tied primarily to his wife, Ritu Ahuja Khanna, and family trusts connected to her father, Monte Ahuja, the founder of Transtar Industries and chairman and CEO of the private investment firm MURA Holdings.

Ro Khanna was born Rohit Khanna on September 13, 1976, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents immigrated to the United States from India in the 1970s. His father worked as a chemical engineer, and his mother worked as a substitute teacher. Khanna grew up in Pennsylvania and graduated from Council Rock High School in Newtown in 1994.

Khanna earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from the University of Chicago in 1998. He then attended Yale Law School, where he received his law degree in 2001. After law school, he worked as an attorney, professor, and author before entering elected office.

Before becoming a member of Congress, Khanna worked in private legal practice and taught economics at Stanford University. He also became involved in Democratic politics and policy circles. In 2004, he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in a California congressional race.

Khanna served in the Obama administration as deputy assistant secretary of commerce from 2009 to 2011. In that role, he worked on issues related to exports, manufacturing, and American economic competitiveness. He later served on the California Workforce Development Board from 2012 to 2016.

Khanna has also written about economic policy and technology. His books include "Entrepreneurial Nation: Why Manufacturing is Still Key to America's Future" and "Dignity in a Digital Age."

Khanna first challenged incumbent Democratic congressman Mike Honda in California's 17th congressional district in 2014, but lost. He ran again in 2016 and defeated Honda, winning a seat representing the heart of Silicon Valley. He took office in January 2017.

In Congress, Khanna has positioned himself as a progressive Democrat who is also deeply engaged with the technology sector. He has supported Medicare for All, student debt relief, labor protections, climate policy, campaign finance reform, and restrictions on members of Congress trading individual stocks. He has also advocated for bringing technology jobs and advanced manufacturing investment to regions outside of Silicon Valley.

Khanna has served on committees including the House Armed Services Committee, the Oversight and Accountability Committee, and the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. He was also involved in the Endless Frontier Act, a bipartisan proposal aimed at strengthening American science, technology, and manufacturing capacity. That proposal helped form part of the broader policy framework behind the CHIPS and Science Act.

As a rank-and-file member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Ro Khanna earns an annual congressional salary of $174,000. That salary is meaningful income, but it is not the source of his nine-figure estimated net worth.

Khanna's net worth is better understood through the lens of congressional financial disclosures, which report assets and liabilities in broad ranges rather than exact figures. Those disclosures include assets held by a spouse and dependent children, which can make the public estimate of a politician's wealth much less precise than a normal private-sector net worth calculation.

Khanna's public financial disclosures have listed a very large and complex portfolio of investments, with the bulk of the family assets connected to his wife, Ritu Ahuja Khanna, and Ahuja-family trusts. Earlier public reporting placed Khanna's minimum net worth at around $27 million, with most of that wealth belonging to Ritu Khanna. More recent reviews of his disclosures have suggested that the family asset range is far higher, with a floor above $100 million and a possible upper range well above $300 million.

Ro Khanna's father-in-law, Monte Ahuja, is a self-made businessman and philanthropist who built a fortune in the automotive parts industry. Ahuja was born in India and came to the United States in 1969 with a mechanical engineering background. He earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University and later earned an MBA from Cleveland State University.

In 1975, Ahuja turned a business plan from one of his MBA classes into Transtar Industries. The company specialized in the distribution of transmission parts and related products for the motor vehicle repair industry. Over time, Transtar grew into a major distributor serving the automotive aftermarket. Ahuja led the company for decades as chairman and CEO before eventually selling his interest.

After Transtar, Ahuja became chairman and CEO of MURA Holdings, a private investment company. The Ahuja family also became prominent philanthropists in Ohio, giving major gifts to Cleveland State University, Ohio State University, and University Hospitals. Cleveland State's business school is named the Monte Ahuja College of Business, and University Hospitals' Ahuja Medical Center was named in recognition of the family's support.

Ro Khanna is married to Ritu Ahuja Khanna. They have two children.

Khanna has often spoken about the influence of his parents' immigrant story on his politics. He has framed much of his public career around expanding economic opportunity, rebuilding American manufacturing, and making the technology economy work for more people outside of the wealthiest coastal regions.