During this time, hundreds of billionaires fell from the ranks of Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list, reflecting the impact of the pandemic on the fortunes of the richest people in the world.
Time went by, and in only a year, things changed dramatically. 493 new billionaires emerged on that list, pushed by a red-hot stock market and unprecedented economic stimulus.
Among those people are at least 40, who earned their fortunes from companies involved in fighting COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel and BioNTech cofounder Uğur Şahin, have become household names thanks to the vaccines they helped to develop. There are as well other entrepreneurs, who made money on creating everything from personal protective equipment and diagnostic tests to antibody treatments and specialized software that assists in scheduling vaccination campaigns, which are be crucial in restarting economies and returning to normal life.
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Li Jianquan is believed to be the wealthiest of these new billionaires. He is the president of Chinese medical products manufacturer Winner Medical, which specializes on production of masks and medical overalls to supply frontline workers across the globe. In September 2020, Winner Medical’s IPO on the Shenzhen stock exchange instantly made Jianquan a billionaire several times over thanks to his 68% stake in the company, worth $6.8 billion.
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There are extremely successful vaccine companies, whose rise over the last year has produced several new billionaires from the same company, like, for example, four apiece from Moderna and Tianjin-based CanSino Biologics, which had its one-shot vaccine approved by Chinese regulators this winter.
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Among the leaders here are not only the discoverers of the vaccine, but also companies that mass produce the vaccines and contract research firms that help firms run clinical trials, they 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.
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Here is the full list of 40 newly emerged 40 billionaires, who succeeded to make their fortune out of pandemic crisis:
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1. Li Jianquan & family, Hong Kong: $6.8 Billion; Winner Medical Consumer products. 2. Stéphane Bancel, France: $4.3 Billion; CEO of Moderna Moderna. 3. Liu Fangyi, China: $4.2 Billion; founder and chairman of Intco Medical. 4. Uğur Şahin, Germany: $4 Billion; CEO & Co-founder of BioNTech.
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5. Yuan Liping, Canada: $3.6 Billion; 24% stake in Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products – Pharmaceuticals. 6. Hu Kun, China: $2.5 Billion; Contec Medical Systems - Medical equipment. 7. Chen Xiao Ying, China: $2.4 Billion; Investor in Alibaba Health Information Technology - Health Information.
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8. Dai Lizhong, China: $2.4 Billion; Chairman of Sansure Biotech - Medical testing. 9. Karin Sartorius-Herbst: Germany: $2.4 Billion; Stake in Sartorius group, pharmaceutical & laboratory equipment supplier - Bio-pharmaceuticals.
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10. Ulrike Baro, Germany: $1.5 Billion; Stake in Sartorius group - bio-pharmaceuticals. 11. Timothy Springer, USA: $2.2 Billion; Professor & founding investor in Moderna, 3.5% stake – Biotech.
12. Gong Yingying, China: $2.1 Billion; Founder & chairwoman of Yidu Tech - Health IT. 13. Weng Xianding, China: $2.1 Billion; Majority shareholder, Shenzhen New Industries Biological Engineering - Medical devices. 14. Rao Wei & family, China: $1.2 Billion; Chairman, Shenzhen New Industries Biological Engineering – Pharmaceuticals. 15. Sergio Stevanato, Italy: $1.9 Billion; Majority owner & chairman, Stevanato Group - Medical Packaging.
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16. Noubar Afeyan, USA: $1.9 Billion; Chairman & co-founder of Moderna – Biotech. 17. Carl Hansen, Canada: $1.8 Billion; Founder & CEO of Canadian biotech firm AbCellera – Biotech. 18. Juan López-Belmonte López & family, Spain: $1.8 Billion; Chairs Spanish pharma company Rovi – Pharmaceuticals.
19. John Oyler, USA: $1.8 Billion; CEO & co-founder of Beijing-based drugmaker BeiGene – Biotech. 20. Robert Langer, USA: $1.6 Billion; 3% stake in Moderna, helped start in 2010 – Biotech. 21. Ren Jinsheng & family, China: $1.5 Billion; Founder & chairman of Simcere Pharmaceutical Group – Pharmaceuticals. 22. Arvind Lal, India: $1.5 Billion; Executive chairman of Indian diagnostics chain Dr. Lal PathLabs - Medical Diagnostics.
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23. Prathap Reddy, India: $1.5 Billion; Founder & chairman of Indian hospital chain Apollo Hospitals Group – Healthcare. 24. August Troendle, USA: $1.5 Billion; CEO & founder of Cincinnati-based contract research firm Medpace - Pharmaceutical Services. 25. Liang Yaoming, China: $1.4 Billion; Chair of testing company Guangzhou Kingmed Diagnostics Group – Diagnostics. 26. Itaru Tanimura, Japan: $1.4 Billion; Founder of Tokyo-based online medical services provider M3 – Healthcare. 27. Keith Dunleavy & family, USA: $1.4 Billion; Founder of cloud-based healthcare data analytics outfit Inovalon - Health IT.
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28. Alan Miller & family, USA: $1.3 Billion; Founder & executive chairman of healthcare services provider Universal Health Services - Healthcare services. 29. Cao Xiaochun, China: $1.3 Billion; Cofounder & director of pharmaceutical contract research outfit Hangzhou Tigermed Consulting – Pharmaceuticals. 30. Xiong Jun & family, China: $1.3 Billion; Chair bio-pharma company Shanghai Junshi Biosciences – Pharmaceuticals. 31. Zhu Tao, China: $1.3 Billion; Cofounder of Tianjin-based vaccine manufacturer CanSino Biologics – Pharmaceuticals.
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32. Qiu Dongxu, Canada: $1.2 Billion; Cofounder of Tianjin-based vaccine manufacturer CanSino Biologics – Pharmaceuticals. 33. Yu Xuefeng, Canada: $1.2 Billion; Cofounder of Tianjin-based vaccine manufacturer CanSino Biologics – Pharmaceuticals. 34. Mao Huihua, Canada: $1 Billion; Cofounder of Tianjin-based vaccine manufacturer CanSino Biologics – Pharmaceuticals. 35. Premchand Godha, India: $1.2 Billion; Chair of Mumbai-based generic drug manufacturer Ipca Labs – Pharmaceuticals.
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36. Feng Yuxia, China: $1.1 Billion; President of Beijing-based contract research organization JOINN Laboratories – Pharmaceuticals. 37. Li Wenmei & family, China: $1.1 Billion; Co-founder & general manager of diagnostic test supplier Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech - Medical equipment. 38. M.Satyanarayana Reddy, India: $1.1 Billion; Founder & chairman of Hyderabad-based drugmaker MSN Group – Pharmaceuticals.
39. Jack Schuler, USA: $1.1 Billion; 7% stake in diagnostic firm Quidel Corp – Pharmaceuticals. 40. Yu De-Chao, USA: $1 Billion; Cofounder & chairman of Chinese biopharma outfit Innovent Biologics – Pharmaceuticals.
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