The Ledger / Patrick Soon-Shiong
Patrick Soon-Shiong
◼ Origin
Patrick Soon-Shiong (born 1952, Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to Chinese immigrant parents) earned his medical degree from the University of Witwatersrand and a master's in surgery from UBC. His wealth derives from two pharmaceutical exits: founding Abraxis BioScience and developing Abraxane (nab-paclitaxel, FDA approved 2005), sold to Celgene for $2.8 billion in 2010; and selling APP Pharmaceuticals to Fresenius for $4.6 billion in 2008. He subsequently built NantWorks, a sprawling biotech and health IT conglomerate, and in 2018 purchased the Los Angeles Times for $500 million.
◼ Self-Made Verdict — YES
Built his fortune entirely from medical research and pharmaceutical company creation starting as a South African immigrant physician with no documented inherited capital.
◼ Documented marks
01
Founder and controlling shareholder of NantWorks, spanning NantHealth (health IT), ImmunityBio (cancer immunotherapy), NantMedia (film/media), and related entities.
02
Owns the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune, acquired in 2018 for $500 million.
03
Holds approximately 4.5% of the Los Angeles Lakers NBA franchise.
04
NantHealth (NASDAQ: NH) conducted a $2.6 billion IPO in July 2015; as of 2025 the company carries a market cap in the low hundreds of millions.
05
Has announced plans to take the Los Angeles Times public via Regulation A financing, as of 2025.
No inheritance, or primary accounts documented for this billionaire yet.
◼ List of charges
Total sentence
0–0 years
That is
0.0–0.0 life sentences
(using 78 years as one life)
These are moral charges, not legal ones. The actual legal system has not — and will not — bring them.
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