The man who built America's largest private immigration detention empire arrived at Ellis Island as a three-year-old Greek immigrant in 1953 and has spent the past four decades profiting from the system that processes people who follow the same path.
George Christopher Zoley, founder of The GEO Group, is 76 years old, holds a doctorate in Public Administration, and runs a publicly traded company that reported a record £193 million ($254 million) in profit for 2025. His facilities now hold tens of thousands of ICE detainees across the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and South Africa. His personal fortune, according to Bloomberg estimates, has grown by approximately £38 million ($50 million) since Donald Trump won the presidential election in November 2024 and now stands at £231 million ($304 million).
