At the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1, Forbes updated its annual list of the richest people in the world, which includes 34 U.S. healthcare billionaires in 2024.
U.S. healthcare billionaires now have a collective net worth of $113.6 billion. In total, there are 2,640 real-time billionaires across the world in 2024.
Here are the 34 U.S.-based healthcare billionaires of 2024 and their billionaire ranking nationally:
81. Thomas Thomas Frist Jr., MD, $20.2 billion, founded Hospital Corp. of America in 1968.
171. Carl Cook, $10.2 billion, is CEO of medical device manufacturer Cook Group.
282. Reinhold Schmieding, $7.7 billion, started orthopedic surgical tools company Arthrex in 1981 and still owns more than 90 percent of the company.
344. Ronda Stryker, $6.9 billion, is a director of medical equipment company Stryker Corp.
442. Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, $5.8 billion, was a practicing physician before inventing the cancer medication Abraxane.
445. John Brown, $5.7 billion, ran Stryker Corp. for 32 years.
455. Li Ge, $5.6 billion, co-founded WuXi AppTech, a provider of research and clinical trial services.
636. Jon Stryker, $4.3 billion, inherited a stake in Stryker Corp.
905. Pat Stryker, $3.2 billion, inherited a stake in Stryker Corp.
1067. Stewart Rahr, $2.8 billion, expanded and sold his father's pharmaceutical company Kinray.
1104. Wayne Rothbaum, $2.7 billion, founded investment firm Quogue Capital in 2001 and became a successful biotech investor.
1164. Leonard Schleifer, $2.6 billion, co-founded and remains CEO of drugmaker Regeneron.
1368. Hao Hong, $2.2 billion, is the chair of pharmaceutical outsourcing company Asymchem Laboratories.
1368. Alice Schwartz, $2.2 billion, launched lab research facilitator Bio-Rad in 1952.
1434. Timothy Springer, PhD, $2.1 billion, was a founding investor in Moderna and works as a professor of biochemistry at Boston-based Harvard Medical School.
1647. Robert Duggan, $1.8 billion, led the 2015 sale of biotech firm Pharmacyclics to AbbVie.
1647. Phillip Frost, $1.8 billion, runs diagnostic-maker Opko Health.
1647. Gary Michelson, MD, $1.8 billion, is a retired orthopedic and spine surgeon who holds over 340 U.S. patents.
1647. Amy Wyss, $1.8 billion, worked at her father's medical equipment firm Synthes for years before it sold to Johnson & Johnson.
1725. Keith Dunleavy and family, $1.7 billion, is the founder of cloud-based data analytics company Inovalon.
1725. Osman Kibar, $1.7 billion, is the founder and CEO of San Diego-based biotech firm Samumed.
1725. James Leininger, MD, $1.7 billion, is the founder of medical device company Kinetic Concepts.
1804. Noubar Afeyan, $1.6 billion, is the founder and CEO of life sciences innovation firm Flagship Pioneering.
1804. Randal Kirk, $1.6 billion, is chair of private equity firm Third Security and the former CEO of biotech firm Precigen.
1804. Robert Langer, $1.6 billion, is a scientist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge) and a co-founder of Moderna.
1804. August Troendle, $1.6 billion, is the president and CEO of clinical research company Medpace.
1804. George Yancopoulos, MD, PhD, $1.6 billion, is the chief scientific officer at biotech firm Regeneron.
1905. Jeff Tangney, $1.5 billion, co-founded Doximity.
2020. David Paul, $1.4 billion, is the founder and executive chair of spine manufacturer Globus Medical.
2133. Joe Kiani, $1.3 billion, runs medical technology firm Masimo Corp.
2133. John Oyler, $1.3 billion, is the CEO and cofounder of biotech outfit BeiGene.
2259. Alan Miller and family, $1.2 billion, founded Universal Health Services, a chain of hospitals and health providers, in 1979.
2259. Forrest Preston, $1.2 billion, founded Life Care Centers of America in 1970 to house and care for the elderly.
2259. Zhao Ning, $1.2 billion, was a co-founder and director of WuXi AppTec. She died in May 2023 at age 56.