Net Worth: $21.2 billion
LAST YEAR: $19.8 billion
CHANGE: 7%
AGE: 72
RESIDENCE: Brentwood
SOURCE OF WEALTH: Health care, investments, media
Soon-Shiong’s portfolio saw significant growth over the past 12 months, due to substantial gains in his stake in immunotherapy firm ImmunityBio and in his real estate holdings. Gains were tempered by dip in value of Los Angeles Times and related media holdings. ImmunityBio achieved a major milestone this spring as the Food and Drug Administration approved its lead drug candidate Anktiva to treat a common form of bladder cancer. That prompted a surge in the company’s share price, which has largely held in the months since. Soon-Shiong’s 83% stake in the company as of the end of August had zoomed up in value to $2.8 billion, a jump of $1.8 billion, or 174%, compared to the same time last year. The major challenge ahead for the Anktiva drug is to gain traction in a competitive market.
Soon-Shiong, a native of South Africa, came to UCLA in 1983 to pursue a surgical career. He then founded diabetes and cancer biotech firm APP Pharmaceuticals – which sold in 2008 to dialysis firm Fresenius for $4.6 billion – and Abraxis Bioscience, which sold in 2010 to Celgene for over $3 billion in stock and cash. Soon-Shiong used the proceeds to set up his Nant family of bioscience companies, which now forms the backbone of his business empire.
In 2018, Soon-Shiong acquired the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Tribune from Tronc (formerly Tribune Co.) for $500 million. After some promising years where he invested heavily in expanding the Times’ newsroom and reach, economic realities of the news business hit hard. He sold off the San Diego Union-Tribune last year to Alden Global Capital. He also laid off 75 editorial staff last year and another 115 editorial staff in January; at the time of the second round of layoffs, Soon-Shiong said the paper was losing nearly $40 million a year. The layoffs were reportedly a factor in the resignation of then-Executive Editor Kevin Merida. But Soon-Shiong broke new ground in hiring Merida’s replacement: Terry Tang, the first female executive editor in the paper’s 142-year history. In May came another dose of good news when the Times won its 52nd Pulitzer Prize – this one went to former Times film critic Justin Chang.
Education: Bachelor’s degree in medicine from University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa; Master’s Degree from University of British Columbia; received surgical training at UCLA While a surgeon at UCLA, performed university’s first whole-organ pancreas transplant.
Charitable Giving: The Chan-Soon-Shiong Family Foundation has been very active in improving health care delivery in Soon-Shiong’s native South Africa, including a recent $1.6 million grant to fund vaccine research and manufacturing.
Sports Stake: He owns 4.5% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers; Forbes valued the Lakers at $6.4 billion last October, making his stake worth an estimated $290 million. In 2017, Soon-Shiong and his wife Michelle Chan were invited by the Smithsonian Museum in Washington D.C. to be part of the museum’s permanent exhibit, “Many Voices, One Nation.”
Key Dates
â—† 1995: Soon-Shiong invented Abraxane, a drug to fight pancreatic cancer. Last year sales of the drug topped $1 billion.
â—† 2008: Soon-Shiong sold American Pharmaceutical Partners for $4.6 billion.
â—† 2010: He sold Abraxis for $3.8 billion.
◆ 2010: Soon-Shiong bought a 4.5% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers from Earvin “Magic” Johnson.
â—† 2011: Soon-Shiong founded NantWorks. ImmunityBio and NantHealth both fall under the NantWorks umbrella.
â—† 2016: Soon-Shiong launched the National Immunotherapy Coalition to encourage drugmakers to work together on cures.
â—† 2018: Soon-Shiong purchased the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune for $500 million.
◆ 2024: ImmunityBio’s Anktiva was approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The drug treats a common form of bladder cancer. Its stock surged following the announcement, increasing Soon-Shiong’s net worth.
