American magazine Forbes names 50 healthcare entrepreneurs who have made billions amid the coronavirus pandemic. Most of them live in China, from where the pandemic spread throughout the world.
Businessmen made their fortune thanks to the rise in shares of companies developing vaccines and supplying medical equipment. Among the new billionaires is Ugur Shahin, CEO of the German biotechnology company BioNTech. The company he heads together with the American Pfizer has developed an effective vaccine against the virus. As a result, since the beginning of the year, the company’s shares have soared by 160 percent, and Shahin’s own fortune has increased by 17 percent, to 4.2 billion dollars.
The Forbes rating also includes the head of the American company Moderna, Stefan Bansel, who also developed an effective vaccine. Since the beginning of the year, the value of the company’s securities has grown by more than 550 percent. Bansel was worth $ 4.1 billion, despite the fact that in March 2020, he reduced his stake in the company from 9 percent to 6 percent. In addition, the publication included the ex-wife of the chairman of the board of Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products Du Weimin Yuan Liping on the list. The organization ranks among the leading vaccine manufacturers in China. After the divorce, the woman received 24 percent of the company, whose shares almost doubled in price. The Yuan was worth $ 4.1 billion.
Among the entrepreneurs who got rich on the coronavirus were also the head of the Chinese company Contec Medical Systems, which produces medical equipment, Hu Kun; the head of the Canadian AbCellera Karl Hansen – the company uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to find the most promising methods of treating diseases using antibodies. Also on the list are Moderna co-founder Timothy Springer and Sergio Stevanato, head of the Italian company Stevanato (one of the world’s leading glass bottle manufacturers). Presumably, it will be Stevanato that will supply containers for more than 40 vaccines against coronavirus.