The COVID-19 pandemic has helped 50 healthcare leaders become billionaires, with 28 hailing from China , where the virus first emerged i...
The COVID-19 pandemic has helped 50 healthcare leaders become billionaires, with 28 hailing from China, where the virus first emerged in December 2019.
The first case of the coronavirus was reported in Wuhan last year before quickly spreading across the world and killing more than 1.7 million people. In the US alone, there are more than 19 million confirmed infections and at least 332,723 Americans have died.
Government officials immediately turned to the healthcare industry for help with rolling out a vaccination. Moderna and Pfizer have both made good on their promises to create a vaccine for the virus by the end of 2020.
Doses of the two vaccines have already been administered in the UK and the US. And tied to those breakthroughs are 50 doctors, scientists and healthcare entrepreneurs who earned the billionaire status this year, according to Forbes.
The most notable new billionaires are Uğur Şahin, the physician who co-founded BioNTech, which helped develop the Pfizer vaccine, and Stéphane Bancel, the CEO of Massachusetts-based Moderna.
The pandemic has helped 50 healthcare leaders become billionaires, with the most notable being Uğur Şahin (left), the physician who co-founded BioNTech, which helped develop the Pfizer vaccine, and Stéphane Bancel, the CEO of Massachusetts-based Moderna (right)
Hu Kun, who chairs China's Contec Medical Systems, became a billionaire this year with a net worth of $3.9billion. The company makes medical products for hospitals which include, nebulizers, stethoscopes and blood pressure monitors
Şahin has amassed a net worth of $4.2billion since January and Bancel has reached $4.1billion, according to Forbes.
BioNTech’s stock has increased by 160 per cent since partnering with Pfizer to develop one of the vaccines.
Bancel, a French citizen, became Moderna's CEO in 2011. He hit billionaire status in March after selling more than a million shares as the firm’s stock surged by more than 550 per cent.
Other notable newcomers include Yuan Liping, whose net worth skyrocketed to $4.1billion after her divorce from Du Weimin in June.
Yuan, who owns 24 per cent of vaccine producer, Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products, became Canada's richest woman following their divorce.
Hu Kun, who chairs China's Contec Medical Systems, also became a billionaire this year with a net worth of $3.9billion.
Carl Hansen (left) is worth $2.9billion as the CEO and co-founder of AbCellera, a biotech firm that uses artificial intelligence to identify antibody treatments for diseases. Timothy Springer (right) has amassed a net worth of $2billion. He was a founding investor in Moderna in 2010
Sergio Stevanato (center) has a net worth of $1.8billion as the president of Italian medical packaging firm Stevanato Group, the world’s second-largest producer of glass vials. His company is a prominent supplier of vials for more than 40 COVID-19 vaccines
The company makes medical products for hospitals which include, nebulizers, stethoscopes and blood pressure monitors.
Carl Hansen, of Canada, is now worth $2.9billion as the CEO and co-founder of AbCellera.
AbCellera is a biotech firm that uses artificial intelligence to identify promising antibody treatments for diseases.
Timothy Springer has amassed a net worth of $2billion. Springer was a founding investor in Moderna in 2010 when he put $5million into the company.
The immunologist currently has a 3.5 per cent stake in Moderna that's now worth about $1.6billion.
Sergio Stevanato has a net worth of $1.8billion as the president of Italian medical packaging firm Stevanato Group, the world’s second-largest producer of glass vials.
His company is a prominent supplier of vials for more than 40 COVID-19 vaccines.
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