As one of the most talked-about figures, Patrick Soon-Shiong has built a significant fortune. In this article, we dive deep into the assets and career highlights.
What is Patrick Soon-Shiong's Net Worth?
Soon-Shiong began his medical career as a faculty member at UCLA Medical School, where he served as a faculty transplant surgeon from 1983 until 1991. He performed the first whole-pancreas transplant at UCLA and also developed a new experimental Type 1 diabetes treatment involving transplanting some pig cells to humans. While Soon-Shiong left UCLA in 1991 to pursue opportunities in medical technologies, he returned in 2009 to serve as a professor, teaching subjects in immunology, molecular genetics, bioengineering, and microbiology, which he continues to do to this day.
From Humble Surgeon to Multi-Billionaire
Soon-Shiong was born on July 29, 1952, in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. His parents were Chinese immigrants who fled from China during the Japanese occupation during World War II. He attended the University of Witwatersrand and received a bachelor's degree in medicine before going to Johannesburg General Hospital to complete his medical internship. He then enrolled at the University of British Columbia, where he earned a master's degree, and then moved to the United States to attend surgical training at the University of California, Los Angeles. He became a board-certified surgeon in 1984 and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.
Patrick Soon-Shiong is a South African-born surgeon and drug developer who has a net worth of $10 billion. Patrick Soon-Shiong has at times been therichest person in Los Angelesthanks to his extremely lucrative career as a biotech entrepreneur. He is generallyconsidered the richest doctor in the world. Patrick is probably best known for his ownership stake in the LA Lakers. In 2010, Patrick purchasedMagic Johnson's4.5% ownership stake in the Los Angeles Lakers. He is the largest Lakers owner outside of the Buss family. With the transaction, Soon-Shiong also acquired fourcourtside Lakers seats.
Turns out, this acquisition wasn't even his biggest success in the business world! In 1997, Patrick founded a company called American Pharmaceutical Partners (APP), which manufactured generic intravenous medicines. By 2008, APP was generating $750 million per year in revenue, of which roughly $300 million was pure profit. In July of 2008, Homberg, Germany-based Fresnius SE agreed to acquire APP for $5.6 billion. At the time of the transaction, Patrick Soon-Shiong owned 80% of APP's shares.
Not one to rest on his laurels, Soon-Shiong founded another company called NantWorks in September 2011. Nantworks's health division NantHealth aims to provide cloud-based data to the healthcare industry. One of the company's supercomputers is now able to analyze and transfer the genetic data from a tumor in under a minute.
Soon-Shiong left UCLA in 1991 and founded a biotechnology company called Abraxis BioScience. Under Patrick's leadership, the company eventually developed a revolutionary drug used in the treatment of breast, lung, and pancreatic cancers. The drug, Abraxane, was approved by the FDA in 2005 and the European equivalent in 2008 for the treatment of breast cancer when chemotherapy was not working. By 2009, Abraxane generated $315 million in revenue per year. In 2010, Abraxis BioScience, which was still solely owned by Soon-Shiong, was acquired by American biotech company Celgene for $3 billion in cash and stock.
In summary, the total wealth of Patrick Soon-Shiong reflects strategic moves.
Disclaimer: All net worth figures are estimates based on public data.
