THE GLOBAL coronavirus pandemic has turned 50 healthcare professionals into billionaires this year, according to a new report.
According to Forbes, 50 doctors, scientists and healthcare entrepreneurs earned billionaire status this year thanks to their scientific and medical contributions in fighting the global Covid outbreak.
But 28 of the 50 newly crowned billionaires hail from China, which is considered to be where the virus first emerged in December 2019.
Particularly notable entries to the list include Uğur Şahin, the physician who co-founded BioNTech, the company that helped develop the Pfizer vaccine.
Another notable new billionaire is Stéphane Bancel, the CEO of Moderna.
Şahin has amassed a net worth of $4.2billion since January while Bancel has reached $4.1billion, according to the figures published in the Forbes report.
Government officials immediately turned to the healthcare industry for help with rolling out a vaccination.
Moderna and Pfizer have both made good on their promises to create a vaccine for the virus by the end of 2020.
And BioNTech’s stock increased by 160 per cent since partnering with the pharmaceutical giant this year.
Masschusettes-based Moderna recently started being rolled out to nursing home staff and residents following approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Doses of the two vaccines have already been administered in the UK and the US.
Other newcomers on the list include Yuan Liping, whose net worth skyrocketed to $4.1billion.
Yuan, who owns 24 per cent of Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products has become Canada’s richest woman.
And Hu Kun, who chairs China’s Contec Medical Systems, finished the year with an estimated net worth of $3.9billion.
Meanwhile, days before Xmas it was reported that Elon Musk’s net worth jumped nearly $9billion to $167.3billion, boosting his status as the second wealthiest person on earth.
Musk’s fortune hit a new high as Tesla, of which he is CEO, prepared to debut in the S&P 500, a major stock market index.
The entrepreneur has grown his fortune by $139.7billion this year, and only Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has a higher net worth, estimated to be $187.3billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
