A number of healthcare industry folks were included in Forbes’ latest ranking of the wealthiest Americans in 2022.
The healthcare industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, but top executives are still faring well. Indeed, pharmaceutical companies dared very well during the pandemic, even as providers were slammed due to strained resources, low margins, a tight labor market and high inflation rates.
Americans in the top 400 list from Forbes accounted for $4 trillion. That’s $500 billion less than last year, and 2022 marks the first time the minimum net worth to make the Forbes 400 dropped for the first time since the Great Recession, to $2.7 billion. The losses could largely be attributed to tech billionaires, who have lost a combined $315 billion.
Here are the top 6 wealthiest Americans in healthcare, according to Forbes:
42. Thomas Frist Jr. and family. Net worth: $17B. Frist, a former Air Force flight surgeon, founded Hospital Corp. of America with his father in 1968. Known as HCA Healthcare today, the company is one of the largest health systems in the U.S.
66. Carl Cook. Net worth: $9.7B. Carl Cook is CEO of Cook Group, a medical device manufacturer.
128. Judy Faulkner. Net worth: $6.7B. Faulkner is founder of medical record software system Epic Systems, based in Wisconsin. It is the largest EMR provider in the United States.
138. Reinhold Schmieding. Net worth: $6.5B. Schmieding started Arthrex, an orthopedic surgical tools company.
153. Ge Li. Net worth: $6.1B. Li is co-founder and chair of WuXi AppTec, a global R&D and manufacturing services company that supports the pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device industries.
160. Patrick Soon-Shiong. Net worth: $5.7B. Soon-Shiong is a medical doctor who invented the cancer drug Abraxane, which is known for its efficacy against pancreatic cancer.
See the full Forbes list here.
Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."