Forbes‘ released its 38th annual World’s Billionaires list on April 2, and the names include nearly three dozen people who made their fortunes in the healthcare industry.
It’s been a banner year for the world’s billionaires, whose combined wealth reached $14.2 trillion — $2 trillion above a year ago and $1.1 trillion above the previous record from 2021, Forbes reported. While some U.S. healthcare billionaires saw their net worth fall or increase in a year, others remained flat or are new to the list.
Bernard Arnault, the founder, chair and CEO of the world’s largest luxury goods company LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, kept the No. 1 spot as the wealthiest person in the world for the second year in a row. The net worth for Mr. Arnault and his family for 2024 is $233 billion, up from $211 billion for 2023.
Below are billionaires from the Forbes list of 2,781 organized by the healthcare industry and the U.S. territory. (Find the complete listing here.)
Thomas Frist Jr., MD, and family
Overall rank: 73
Net worth in 2024: $26.2 billion
Net worth in 2023: $20.2 billion
Dr. Frist co-founded Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare with his father in the 1960s.
Carl Cook
Overall rank: 203
Net worth in 2024: $10.6 billion
Net worth in 2023: $10.2 billion
Mr. Cook is owner and CEO of Cook Group, a Bloomington, Ind.-based medical device manufacturer co-founded by his parents in the 1960s.
Ronda Stryker
Overall rank: 312
Net worth in 2024: $8.2 billion
Net worth in 2023: $6.9 billion
Ms. Stryker is the director of and the largest individual shareholder in Stryker Corp., a medical equipment company founded by her grandfather, Homer Stryker.
John Brown
Overall rank: 334
Net worth in 2024: $7.7 billion
Net worth in 2023: $5.7 billion
Mr. Brown ran Stryker Corp., a medical device and software company, for more than three decades before he retired as chair emeritus.
Judy Faulkner
Overall rank: 358
Net worth in 2024: $7.4 billion
Net worth in 2023: $7.1 billion
Judy Faulkner is founder of EHR company Epic Systems.
Reinhold Schmieding
Overall rank: 364
Net worth in 2024: $7.3 billion
Net worth in 2023: $7.7 billion
Mr. Schmieding founded Arthrex, a surgical device maker based in Naples, Fla.
Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD
Overall rank: 469
Net worth in 2024: $6.2 billion
Net worth in 2023: $5.8 billion
Dr. Soon-Shiong is the founder of NantWorks, a network of healthcare, biotech and artificial intelligence startups, and inventor of cancer drug Abraxane.
Li Ge, PhD
Overall rank: 529
Net worth in 2024: $5.6 billion
Net worth in 2023: $5.6 billion
Dr. Ge co-founded WuXi AppTec, a global research and development and manufacturing services company, in 2000 and serves as chair and CEO of the firm.
Jon Stryker
Overall rank: 563
Net worth in 2024: $5.4 billion
Net worth in 2023: $4.3 billion
Mr. Stryker is the founder and president of Arcus Foundation, which primarily supports great ape conservation efforts and LGBT social justice. He is the grandson of Homer Stryker, who founded Stryker Corp. in 1941.
Robert Duggan
Overall rank: 809 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $3.9 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.8 billion
Mr. Duggan is a serial entrepreneur. He led the 2015 sale of biotech firm Pharmacyclics to AbbVie for $21 billion in cash and stock.
Pat Stryker
Overall rank: 809 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $3.2 billion
Net worth in 2023: $3.9 billion
Ms. Stryker founded the Bohemian Foundation, which supports music, community, global and civic programs. She is a shareholder of Stryker Corp., a medical equipment company founded by her grandfather, Homer Stryker.
Leonard Schleifer, MD, PhD
Overall rank: 920
Net worth in 2024: $3.5 billion
Net worth in 2023: $2.6 billion
Dr. Schleifer is the co-founder and CEO of biotechnology company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, which he established in 1988.
Stewart Rahr
Overall rank: 949 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $3.4 billion
Net worth in 2023: $2.8 billion
Mr. Rahr expanded Kinray, a pharmaceutical distributor his father founded in 1944, and sold it to Cardinal Health in 2010 for $1.3 billion.
August Troendle, MD
Overall rank: 991
Net worth in 2024: $3.3 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.6 billion
Dr. Troendle is the president and CEO of Medpace, a clinical research company he founded in 1992.
Wayne Rothbaum
Overall rank: 1,062 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $3.1 billion
Net worth in 2023: $2.7 billion
Wayne Rothbaum founded investment firm Quogue Capital in 2001 and is an investor in biotech, deploying only his own funds in developers like Acerta Pharma and Iovance.
Alice Schwartz
Overall rank: 1,330 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $2.5 billion
Net worth in 2023: $2.2 billion
Ms. Schwartz and her husband founded life sciences research company Bio-Rad Laboratories in 1952.
George Yancopoulos, MD, PhD
Overall rank: 1,545 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $2.1 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.6 billion
Dr. Yancopoulos is the co-founder, president and chief scientific officer of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.
Amy Wyss
Overall rank: 1,623 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $2 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.8 billion
Ms. Wyss’ father, Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss, founded medical equipment firm Synthes USA in 1977. The company was sold in 2021 to Johnson & Johnson for $19.7 billion in cash and stock.
John Abele
Overall rank: 1,694 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.9 billion
Net worth in 2023: n/a; Mr. Abele is new to the Forbes list.
Mr. Abele is co-founder of medical device developer Boston Scientific.
Keith Dunleavy, MD, and family
Overall rank: 1,694 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.9 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.7 billion
Dr. Dunleavy is the founder and CEO of Inovalon, a cloud-based healthcare data analytics company.
James Leininger, MD
Overall rank: 1,694 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.9 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.7 billion
Dr. Leininger founded medical devices company Kinetic Concepts in 1976.
Phillip Frost, MD
Overall rank: 1,764 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.8 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.8 billion
A longtime healthcare investor, inventor and founder, Dr. Frost now serves as CEO and chair of Opko Health, a medical test and medication company focused on diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.
Gary Michelson, MD
Overall rank: 1,764 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.8 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.8 billion
Dr. Michelson is a retired orthopedic and spinal surgeon who holds over 340 U.S. patents for orthopedic and spinal surgery instruments.
Alan Miller and family
Overall rank: 1,851 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.2 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.7 billion
Mr. Miller founded King of Prussia, Pa.-based Universal Health Services in 1979.
Hao Hong, PhD
Overall rank: 1,945 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.6 billion
Net worth in 2023: $2.2 billion
Dr. Hong is the CEO and chair of Asymchem Laboratories, which provides pharmaceutical outsourcing services. He founded the company in 1999.
Randal Kirk
Overall rank: 2,046 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.5 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.6 billion
Mr. Kirk, a former practicing attorney, is a former CEO of biotech company Intrexon, now named Precigen, and serves as CEO and chair of life-sciences investment firm Third Security.
Timothy Springer, PhD
Overall rank: 2,046 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.5 billion
Net worth in 2023: $2.1 billion
Dr. Springer is an immunologist and professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Boston-based Harvard Medical School and an investor in biotech and pharmaceutical companies. When Moderna Therapeutics launched its initial public offering in 2018, Dr. Springer became the company’s fourth-largest shareholder.
Jeff Tangney
Overall rank: 2,046 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.5 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.5 billion
Jeff Tangney co-founded Doximity.
Noubar Afeyan, PhD
Overall rank: 2,152 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.4 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.6 billion
Dr. Afeyan founded life sciences innovation firm Flagship Pioneering in 2000 and is the company’s CEO.
David Paul
Overall rank: 2,152 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.4 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.4 billion
Mr. Paul founded Globus Medical, a medical device manufacturer, in 2003 and serves as executive chair.
Robert Langer, ScD
Overall rank: 2,410 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.2 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.6 billion
Dr. Langer is a scientist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, where he leads the eponymous Langer Lab.
Joe Kiani
Overall rank: 2,545 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.1 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.3 billion
Mr. Kiani founded and serves as chair and CEO of Masimo, a global medical technology company that develops and manufactures noninvasive patient-monitoring tools.
Forrest Preston
Overall rank: 2,545 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1.2 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.1 billion
Mr. Preston is the founder, owner, chair and CEO of Life Care Centers of America, a long-term care company for older adults he established in 1970.
John Oyler
Overall rank: 2,692 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1 billion
Net worth in 2023: $1.3 billion
Mr. Oyler is the co-founder and CEO of BeiGene, a biotech company specializing in the development of drugs for cancer treatment.
Roy Vagelos, MD
Overall rank: 2,692 (tied)
Net worth in 2024: $1 billion
Net worth in 2023: n/a; Dr. Vagelos is new to the Forbes list.
Dr. Vagelos is former chair and CEO of Merck.