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Meet The 40 New Billionaires Who Got Rich Fighting Covid-19
Stephane Bancel, Liu Fangyi and Ugur Sachin
Adam Glanzman/Bloomberg, Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images, Courtesy of Liu Fangyi
Some made their fortunes developing new vaccines and promising antibody treatments, while others sell much-needed diagnostic tests and personal protective equipment.
Shortly after the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, markets collapsed and economies around the world plunged into recession. At the same time, hundreds of billionaires fell from the ranks of Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list, capturing a snapshot of the pandemic’s impact on the fortunes of the world’s wealthiest people.
One year later, things couldn’t be more different: a record 493 new billionaires joined the list this year, propelled by a red-hot stock market and unprecedented economic stimulus. Among those newcomers are at least 40 new entrants who draw their fortunes from companies involved in fighting Covid-19. Some, such as Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel and BioNTech cofounder Uğur Şahin, have become household names thanks to the vaccines they helped develop. Others got rich making everything from personal protective equipment and diagnostic tests to antibody treatments and software that helps authorities schedule vaccination campaigns, which will be essential in reopening economies and returning to normal life.
The richest of these new billionaires is Li Jianquan, the president of Chinese medical products manufacturer Winner Medical, which ramped up production of masks and medical overalls to supply frontline workers across the globe. Winner Medical’s IPO on the Shenzhen stock exchange in September 2020 instantly made Jianquan, 64, a billionaire several times over thanks to his 68% stake in the company, worth $6.8 billion.
Some vaccine companies have been so successful that their rise over the last year has minted several new billionaires from the same company, including four apiece from Moderna and Tianjin-based CanSino Biologics, which saw its one-shot vaccine approved by Chinese regulators in February. And it’s not just the vaccine discoverers: companies that mass produce the vaccines and contract research firms that help firms run clinical trials have both reaped the rewards, creating new fortunes for people like Juan López-Belmonte López of Spanish pharma outfit Rovi and Karin Sartorius-Herbst and Ulrike Baro of German biopharma firm Sartorius AG.
Here are the 40 newcomers with ties to companies battling the Covid-19 pandemic; net worths are as of March 5, 2021.
Li Jianquan & family
NET WORTH: $6.8 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: CONSUMER PRODUCTS
CITIZENSHIP: HONG KONG
Jianquan’s Winner Medical made billions of masks and millions of protective overalls and gowns for healthcare workers fighting the virus.Stéphane Bancel
NET WORTH: $4.3 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: MODERNA
CITIZENSHIP: FRANCE
Bancel is the CEO of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna, which had its Covid-19 vaccine authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on December 18, 2020.Liu Fangyi
NET WORTH: $4.2 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Liu Fangyi is the founder and chairman of Intco Medical, a manufacturer of personal protective equipment including gloves, face masks, isolation gowns and hand sanitizer.Uğur Şahin
NET WORTH: $4 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: BIONTECH
CITIZENSHIP: GERMANY
Şahin is the CEO and cofounder of BioNTech, which he started alongside his wife and chief medical officer Özlem Türeci. BioNTech partnered with Pfizer to make the first vaccine authorized by regulators in the U.S., a milestone announced by the FDA on December 11, 2020.Yuan Liping
NET WORTH: $3.6 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: CANADA
Yuan Liping received a 24% stake in vaccine maker Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products after divorcing the firm's chairman Du Weimin in 2020. The company signed a deal with British pharma titan AstraZeneca in August to make at least 100 million doses of its Covid-19 vaccine.
Hu Kun
NET WORTH: $2.5 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Hu Kun is the chairman of Shenzhen-listed Contec Medical Systems, which makes a range of medical equipment including pulse oximeters and pulmonary devices used to check lung conditions.Chen Xiao Ying
NET WORTH: $2.4 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH INFORMATION
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Chen Xiao Ying is an investor in e-commerce giant Alibaba’s online healthcare arm Alibaba Health Information Technology, which signed a deal with Chinese vaccine maker Sinovac in September to develop a digital platform for Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccine rollout.Dai Lizhong
NET WORTH: $2.4 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: MEDICAL TESTING
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Dai Lizhong is the chairman of diagnostics firm Sansure Biotech, which makes Covid-19 tests and had its diagnostic kits authorized by the FDA in May 2020.Karin Sartorius-Herbst
NET WORTH: $2.4 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: BIOPHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: GERMANY
Ulrike Baro
NET WORTH: $1.5 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: BIOPHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: GERMANY
Karin Sartorius-Herbst and her sister Ulrike Baro own stakes in German biopharma outfit Sartorius AG, founded by their great-grandfather Florenz Sartorius in 1870. Sartorius provides lab supplies for Covid-19 testing and assists vaccine manufacturers in the development process.Timothy Springer
NET WORTH: $2.2 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: BIOTECH
CITIZENSHIP: UNITED STATES
Timothy Springer.
Bloomberg
Springer is an immunologist and professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Harvard Medical School; he was a founding investor in Moderna in 2010 and owns a 3.5% stake.
Gong Yingying
NET WORTH: $2.1 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH IT
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Gong Yingying is the founder and chairwoman of Chinese healthcare tech firm Yidu Tech, which used its AI and big data technology to help the hard-hit city of Wuhan conduct contact tracing and coordinate its emergency response.Weng Xianding
NET WORTH: $2.1 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: MEDICAL DEVICES
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Rao Wei & family
NET WORTH: $1.2 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Rao Wei and Weng Xianding are the chairman and majority shareholder, respectively, of biomedical firm Shenzhen New Industries Biological Engineering, which makes a number of Covid-19 diagnostic tests.Sergio Stevanato
NET WORTH: $1.9 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: MEDICAL PACKAGING
CITIZENSHIP: ITALY
Stevanato is the majority owner and chairman emeritus of Stevanato Group, a medical packaging manufacturer that’s supplying glass vials for several Covid-19 vaccines as well as plastic parts for diagnostic tests.Noubar Afeyan
NET WORTH: $1.9 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: BIOTECH
CITIZENSHIP: UNITED STATES
Noubar Afeyan.
ZUMAPRESS.com/Newscom
Afeyan is the chairman and cofounder of Moderna and the founder and CEO of Massachusetts-based life sciences venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering, through which he owns shares in a dozen publicly traded biotech companies.
Carl Hansen
NET WORTH: $1.8 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: BIOTECH
CITIZENSHIP: CANADA
Hansen is a former college professor at the University of British Columbia and the founder and CEO of Canadian biotech firm AbCellera, which partnered with Eli Lilly on a promising antibody treatment for Covid-19 that was authorized by the FDA in November.Juan López-Belmonte López & family
NET WORTH: $1.8 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: SPAIN
López-Belmonte López chairs Spanish pharma company Rovi, which inked a contract with Moderna in July to fill and package hundreds of millions of doses of its Covid-19 vaccine at Rovi's factory in Madrid, Spain.John Oyler
NET WORTH: $1.8 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: BIOTECH
CITIZENSHIP: UNITED STATES
Oyler is the CEO and cofounder of Beijing-based drugmaker BeiGene, which signed an agreement with biotech outfit Singlomics Pharmaceuticals in August to develop, manufacture and sell Singlomics’ antibody treatment for Covid-19.Robert Langer
NET WORTH: $1.6 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: BIOTECH
CITIZENSHIP: UNITED STATES
Robert Langer.
Boston Globe via Getty Images
Langer is a chemical engineer and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he leads the eponymous Langer Lab; he owns a 3% stake in Moderna, which he helped start in 2010.
Ren Jinsheng & family
NET WORTH: $1.5 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Ren Jinsheng is the founder and chairman of pharmaceuticals supplier Simcere Pharmaceutical Group, which increased its production of antiviral drugs arbidol and zanamivir in response to higher demand in the hopes they could help treat Covid-19.Arvind Lal
NET WORTH: $1.5 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS
CITIZENSHIP: INDIA
Arvind Lal.
Courtesy of Dr. Arvind Lal
Lal is the executive chairman of Indian diagnostics chain Dr. Lal PathLabs, which offers Covid-19 tests at its clinics and collection points throughout India.
Prathap Reddy
NET WORTH: $1.5 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTHCARE
CITIZENSHIP: INDIA
Prathap Reddy.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
Prathap Reddy is the founder and chairman of Indian hospital chain Apollo Hospitals Group, which launched more than a dozen post-Covid recovery clinics in October for patients suffering long-term effects from the disease.
