Billionaires
The Top 10 Richest Health Care Billionaires In The World 2020
10 Richest Health Care Billionaires In The World 2020
- Forbes just released its annual ranking of the richest people in the world.
- Among the 2,153 billionaires in the world, 135 built their wealth through their work in the healthcare industry.
- Here are the 10 richest billioniares who draw their wealth from the healthcare industry.
Among the 2,153 billionaires in the world, 135 built their wealth through their work in the healthcare industry — with others like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos also tapping into the sector.
The billionaires come from around the world, drawing their fortunes from pharmaceuticals, hospitals, and medical devices.
10 Richest Health Care Billionaires In The World 2020
Booming demand in China for drugs and medical equipment has propelled a number of Chinese healthcare tycoons into the ranks of the world’s richest.
When Forbes first launched the World’s Billionaires list in 1987, the biggest fortunes in pharmaceuticals were held by Europeans like the Hoffman family of Switzerland and several Japanese drug company tycoons. Today, the picture is quite different. Of the 10 richest healthcare billionaires on Forbes’ new list of the World’s Billionaires, fully half are Chinese, three are European and none are Japanese.
10 Richest Health Care Billionaires In The World 2020
ZHONG HUIJUAN
NET WORTH: $14.6 BILLION
COUNTRY: CHINA
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH CARE
A former chemistry teacher, Zhong is now CEO and co-owner — with her daughter Sun Yuan — of Chinese drug firm Hansoh Pharmaceutical. She is also the second-wealthiest woman in China. Hansoh Pharmaceutical shares have risen more than 40% since its IPO on the Hong Kong exchange in July 2019.
SUN PIAOYANG
NET WORTH: $11.8 BILLION
COUNTRY: CHINA
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH CARE
Sun was a technician at a state-owned pharmaceutical company that went public and was renamed Jiangsu Hengrui Medicine. He worked his way up to CEO of Jiangsu Hengrui, where he is also the majority shareholder. He is married to Zhong Huijuan.
LI XITING
NET WORTH: $11.6 BILLION
COUNTRY: CHINA
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH CARE
Li is the founder and CEO of Mindray Medical International, which makes medical devices for hospitals around the world. He ramped up production when demand for Mindray’s devices skyrocketed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
XU HANG
NET WORTH: $11.2 BILLION
COUNTRY: CHINA
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH CARE
Cofounder and chairman of Mindray Medical, Xu doubled his wealth in the past year. After the Covid-19 outbreak reached Europe and the US, shares of Mindray rose over 30%.
THOMAS STRUENGMANN
NET WORTH: $9.6 BILLION
COUNTRY: GERMANY
(Tie) ANDREAS STRUENGMANN
NET WORTH: $9.6 BILLION
COUNTRY: GERMANY
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH CARE
Identical twin brothers Thomas and Andreas Struengmann founded generic drugmaker Hexal in 1986 and sold it to pharmaceutical giant Novartis for $7 billion in 2005. They have since invested in a handful of other biotech firms and together own nearly half of U.S.-listed German company BioNTech, which is developing a coronavirus vaccine. Shares of BioNTech have soared, lifting each brother’s fortune from $4.4 billion last year.
CYRUS POONAWALLA
NET WORTH: $8.2 BILLION
COUNTRY: INDIA
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH CARE
The Serum Institute of India founded by Poonawalla is the world’s largest vaccine maker, producing vaccines for measles, polio, tetanus and more. In February, the Serum Institute teamed up with U.S. synthetic biology firm Codagenix to work on a coronavirus vaccine.
(Tie) ERNESTO BERTARELLI
NET WORTH: $8 BILLION
COUNTRY: SWITZERLAND
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH CARE
Bertarelli inherited pharmaceutical company Serono in 1998 and shifted its focus to biotechnology. He tops the list of Swiss billionaires, and invests in drug companies and commercial real estate.
(Tie) CARL COOK
NET WORTH: $8 BILLION
COUNTRY: USA
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH CARE
He inherited the Cook Group from his parents, who started the medical device manufacturer in the spare bedroom of their Bloomington, Indiana apartment in 1963.
CHEN BANG
NET WORTH: $7.6 BILLION
COUNTRY: CHINA
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH CARE
Chen chairs Aier Eye Hospital Group, China’s largest ophthalmology chain, with about 200 clinics in China. It also has a presence in the U.S., Europe and Hong Kong. The company’s shares trade on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
Source: Forbes
