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.
Roughly half are Chinese, and they made money predominantly through testing and PPE. The other half profited predominantly through testing and vaccines, especially Moderna.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
August Troendle
NET WORTH: $1.5 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICAL SERVICES
CITIZENSHIP: UNITED STATES
Troendle is the CEO and founder of Cincinnati-based contract research firm Medpace, which helps pharmaceutical companies run clinical trials for Covid-19 drugs and also offers testing services at its labs.
Liang Yaoming
NET WORTH: $1.4 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: DIAGNOSTICS
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Liang Yaoming chairs clinical testing company Guangzhou Kingmed Diagnostics Group, which processed tests for Covid-19 at its facilities throughout China.
Itaru Tanimura
NET WORTH: $1.4 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTHCARE
CITIZENSHIP: JAPAN
Tanimura is the founder of Tokyo-based online medical services provider M3, which offers its AI-powered image analysis technology to remotely diagnose Covid-19 by looking at medical images; the firm also ran clinical studies for Moderna’s vaccine at its facility in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Keith Dunleavy & family
NET WORTH: $1.4 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTH IT
CITIZENSHIP: UNITED STATES
Dunleavy is the founder of cloud-based healthcare data analytics outfit Inovalon, which is working with the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to administer Covid-19 vaccines using its software platform.
Alan Miller & family
NET WORTH: $1.3 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: HEALTHCARE SERVICES
CITIZENSHIP: UNITED STATES
Miller is the founder and executive chairman of healthcare services provider Universal Health Services, which conducts testing for Covid-19 and treats patients at its network of hospitals across the U.S.
Cao Xiaochun
NET WORTH: $1.3 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Cao Xiaochun is the cofounder and director of pharmaceutical contract research outfit Hangzhou Tigermed Consulting, which supported clinical trials for CanSino’s Covid-19 vaccine.
Xiong Jun & family
NET WORTH: $1.3 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Xiong Jun chairs biopharma company Shanghai Junshi Biosciences, which worked with Eli Lilly to co-develop antibody treatments for Covid-19.
Zhu Tao
NET WORTH: $1.3 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Qiu Dongxu
NET WORTH: $1.2 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: CANADA
Yu Xuefeng
NET WORTH: $1.2 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: CANADA
Mao Huihua
NET WORTH: $1 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: CANADA
Zhu Tao, Qiu Dongxu, Yu Xuefeng and Mao Huihua are cofounders of Tianjin-based vaccine manufacturer CanSino Biologics, which received conditional approval for its one-shot Covid-19 vaccine from Chinese regulators in February.
Premchand Godha
NET WORTH: $1.2 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: INDIA
Godha chairs Mumbai-based generic drug manufacturer Ipca Labs, which had an FDA import ban softened in March 2020 to allow it to export the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to the U.S. The drug was initially touted as a potential Covid-19 cure before the FDA discouraged its use in July.
Feng Yuxia
NET WORTH: $1.1 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Feng Yuxia is the president of Beijing-based contract research organization JOINN Laboratories, which helped conduct clinical studies of potential Covid-19 treatments in the disease’s early epicenter of Wuhan, China.
Li Wenmei & family
NET WORTH: $1.1 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
CITIZENSHIP: CHINA
Li Wenmei is the cofounder and general manager of diagnostic test supplier Guangzhou Wondfo Biotech, which makes a range of Covid-19 tests.
M.Satyanarayana Reddy
NET WORTH: $1.1 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: INDIA
He is the founder and chairman of Hyderabad-based drugmaker MSN Group, which started producing a low-cost version of the Covid-19 antiviral favipiravir in August.
Jack Schuler
NET WORTH: $1.1 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: UNITED STATES
Schuler is the former president of healthcare multinational Abbott Labs and the owner of a 7% stake in diagnostic firm Quidel Corp., which was one of the first companies to receive FDA approval for its Covid-19 tests in March 2020. He’s also an investor in privately owned Inspirotec, which is developing technology to identify the presence of Covid-19 in the air.
Yu De-Chao
NET WORTH: $1 BILLION
SOURCE OF WEALTH: PHARMACEUTICALS
CITIZENSHIP: UNITED STATES
Yu De-Chao is the founder and chairman of Chinese biopharma outfit Innovent Biologics, which is developing a potential antibody treatment for Covid-19.
