Don's Home > Jewish Culture> Jewish Success in America
last updated 28 Jan 2024

Jewish accomplishments:
Note: 39% of the worlds 15 million Jews live in the US.

The people named below are a very small fraction of well known Jews.
There is no ranking other than people I have heard of and I am not particularly knowledgeable in any of the categories listed below.

A transition from an agrarian society to trades requiring literacy.
The Chosen Few: How education shaped Jewish history 70-1492, by Maristella Botticini , Zvi Eckstein, 2012 A New Explanation of Jewish Success | PBS

2 trends after the fall of the temple in 70CE.

  1. The growth and spread of literacy among the predominantly rural Jewish population.
  2. A slow but significant process of conversion out of Judaism (mainly into Christianity) which, caused a significant fall in the Jewish population — from 5.5 million circa 65 to roughly 1.2 million circa 650.
Between 750 and 900, almost all the Jews in Mesopotamia and Persia — nearly 75 percent of the world’s remaining 1.2 million Jews — left agriculture, moved to the cities and towns of the newly established Abbasid Empire, and entered myriad skilled occupations that provided higher earnings than as farmers.
Between 750 and 900, almost all the Jews in Mesopotamia and Persia — nearly 75 percent of the world’s remaining 1.2 million Jews — left agriculture, moved to the cities and towns n search of worldwide opportunities in crafts, trade, commerce, moneylending, banking, finance, and medicine.

Many Jews are not practicing Jews, but Practicing doesn't have a good definition.
30% keep some form of Kosher eating.
All main line churches are declining in the US and Judaism is no different.

According to the Pew Research Center 2,4% of US adults are Jewish. 

1.7% jews by religion
0.6% Jews of no religion
1.1% Jewish background
0.8% Other religion
Corporate management:
In Germany:
In the early twentieth century, a dense corporate network was created among the large German corporations ("Germany Inc."). About 16% of the members of this corporate network were of Jewish background. At the center of the network (big linkers) about 25% were Jewish. The percentage of Jews in the general population was less than 1% in 1914.

America:
Jews In The Corporate Establishment; Board Rooms, Clubs and Identity | NY Times 1983
Are Jews excluded from boardrooms and elite social clubs? Or have they made it?
"If you look at most of the commercial banks you will not find a Jewish name at all, maybe a rarity here and there of late, but almost none,'' said Simon H. Rifkind, 81, a partner in the Chicago law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, who has sat on several corporate boards. "

There is an opinion that non-Jewish business leaders are willing to promote Jewish executives once they have established themselves elsewhere. In the Clubs.
Elite social clubs such as the Somerset in Boston, the Piedmont Driving in Atlanta and the Pacific Union in San Francisco are considered an important part of the corporate community.
There still are not very many Jews in these clubs.

Irving S. Shapiro, chairman and chief executive officer of E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company from 1974 to 1981, W. Michael Blumenthal, 57, now chairman of Burroughs,

Science:
Between 1901 and 2022, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to more than 900 individuals and organizations. At least 213 (24%) of them have been to people who are believed to be Jewish or raised Jewish.
Jewish winners of the Nobel Prize
Chemistry: 36 (19% of total)
Economics: 38 (41% of total)
Literature: 16 (13% of total)
Peace: 9 (8% of total)
Physics: 56 (25% of total)
Physiology or Medicine: 59 (26% of total)
Here is just a few.
NL - Nobel laureate
Politics:
American Jews in Politics | Wikipedia>
Many early American German-Jewish immigrants to the United States tended to be politically conservative, but the wave of Eastern European Jews, starting in the early 1880s, were generally more liberal or left-wing, and eventually became the political majority. Many more: Jewish Political Milestones in the United States ,| JewishVirtualLibrary
Music:
This is a gigantic list. Here is just a fraction: More
Entertainers:
TV and Radio Hosts:
Business:
Finance: Success in the wrong direction:
Jews who pushed success a little too far and ended up in jail or other trouble
Just to show that Jews are no different than any other ethnic group in many ways.
Other professions:
There are many other areas of endeavor where Jewish success outnumbers their fraction of the population.
Advertising and public relations., Cosmetics, Financial services, Food, Manufacturing and distribution, Music industry, Newspapers and publishing, Real estate.
Respect
In a 2023 survey on opinion of religions PEW Research found Americans had the most positive view of Jews.

See American Views on Religions

I agree:
Personally I counted 12 friends who are Jewish. I knew/know them from work, volunteering, tennis, skiing, ...
I would rank them much higher than my largest group of religious friends, evangelical christians. I just happened to end up in and became active in evangelical Presbyterian churches by circumstances not choice.

Links:
Why Jews are disproportionally successful | Yetnews