Two physicians with a combined net worth of $22.7 billion made Forbes' 2022 list of the 400 wealthiest Americans, based on data from September 2022.
1. Thomas Frist Jr., MD, has a net worth of $17 billion.
Dr. Frist co-founded Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare in 1968 with his father Thomas Frist Sr., MD, a cardiologist and internist, and Jack Mackey, an investor who owned Kentucky Fried Chicken, according to Bloomberg. Dr. Frist, who ranked 42 on the Forbes list, now owns more than 20 percent of the company.
HCA was one of the earliest for-profit healthcare operators in the U.S. The company owns and operates 187 hospitals and 2,000 care sites, including ASCs, freestanding emergency rooms, urgent care centers and physician clinics in 21 states and the United Kingdom.
2. Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, has a net worth of $5.7 billion.
Dr. Soon-Shiong was a practicing physician before inventing the cancer medication Abraxane, which became a "blockbuster thanks to its efficacy against pancreatic cancer," according to Forbes. He sold his drug companies in 2008 and 2010 for a combined $9.1 billion.
In 2016, he created biotech startup NantHealth, and he owns NantWorks, a network of health startups. In 2018, he bought the Los Angeles Times and The San Diego Union-Tribune. Dr. Soon-Shiong came in at No. 160 on the Forbes 400.