Soon-Shiong became a billionaire selling two drug companies: APP Pharmaceuticals and Abraxis BioScience. He sold APP to Fresenius Medical Care for $4.6 billion in 2008, and Abraxis to Celgene for $2.8 billion in 2010. The billionaire owns the Los Angeles Times and a 4.5% stake in the Lakers professional basketball team.
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The majority of Soon-Shiong's fortune is derived from the proceeds he accumulated selling two pharmaceutical companies. He sold publicly traded APP Pharmaceuticals for $4.6 billion in cash to German drug manufacturer Fresenius in 2008. The billionaire, who served as APP's chairman and CEO, owned more than 80 percent of the stock. As part of a contingent value rights agreement, he received an extra $6 per share, bringing his total proceeds from the sale to about $3.8 billion.
Soon-Shiong sold Abraxis BioScience for $2.9 billion in cash and stock to biotechnology company Celgene in 2010. He received about $2 billion in cash and a 2% stake in Celgene for his 33 million shares of Abraxis.
The billionaire has invested $1 billion in Nantworks, a closely held information technology development company. Through Nantworks he owns about 60% of publicly traded NantHealth, according to a November 2019 SEC filing.
Soon-Shiong bought the Los Angeles Times for $500 million on Feb. 7, 2018. The asset is valued using its purchase price and the cost deducted from the billionaire's cash balance.
Through California Capital Z, Global Grid and other investment companies, Soon-Shiong owns other assets, including stakes in publicly traded NantKwest and NantHealth, according to stock exchange filings. He also owns a 4.5% interest in the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team, a stake he bought from retired Lakers star Earvin "Magic" Johnson for $27 million in October 2010. The team is worth at least $4 billion based on consultations with sports consultant Marc Ganis and a Bloomberg analysis.
Soon-Shiong confirmed his public holdings.
Soon-Shiong was born in 1952 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to Chinese immigrant parents. His father had worked as a village doctor before fleeing China with his wife during World War II. After receiving his medical degree from Wits University in Johannesburg at age 23, Soon-Shiong moved to the U.S. to start surgical training at the University of California in Los Angeles. He joined the faculty of UCLA's medical school in 1983, focusing on diabetes treatment.
He left the university in 1991 to start VivoRX, a biotechnology firm. He renamed the company American Pharmaceutical Partners (APP) in 1997, and sold shares in a public offering four years later. He sold APP for $4.6 billion to Fresenius, a German drug manufacturer in 2008. He then sold Abraxis BioScience, which had been spun off from APP earlier, for $2.8 billion in cash and stock to Celgene in 2010.
The billionaire is married to Michele Chan, a former actress. The couple have two children and live in Los Angeles.