Forbes's 400 richest people in America came out yesterday and we took a quick look at which sciencey people made the list.
Here are the top 10 from Healthcare, which includes people who work in pharmaceuticals and medical device companies.
Most of them have science degrees of some kind, ranging from medical doctors to engineers.
Patrick Soon-Shiong
Net worth: $7.3 billion
Forbes billionaires rank: 47
Age: 60
Education: Has an MD from the University of Witwatersrand, a Master's degree in science from the University of British Columbia, and a Bachelor's degree from the University of Witwatersrand.
Background: Soon-Shiong was 16 when he completed high school, and at 23 he received his medical degree. His wealth comes from being a founder of two pharmaceutical companies, American Pharma Partners and Abraxis Bioscience. He sold APP in 2008 for $5.6 billion, and in 2010 sold Abraxis for $2.9 billion.
He is now working on bringing a digital revolution to healthcare, commerce, and digital entertainment through a company he founded called NantWorks. One project involves developing an application to give doctors information about a patient's DNA by linking the data to the latest scientific research.
Thomas Frist, Jr. & family
Net worth: $4 billion
Forbes billionaires rank: 92
Age: 74
Education: Got his MD from Washington University and has a bachelor's from Vanderbilt University.
Background: In the 1960’s Thomas Frist, Sr. led an effort to build a hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. Frustrated by looking for a group to manage the hospital, Frist Sr and his son Frist, Jr. started the Hospital Corporation of America in 1968.
Frist Jr. remains the biggest shareholder for the now hospital giant. The company had revenues of $29.7 billion in 2011.
The Frist family now was a new company that is building a hospital with the Chinese government and has contracts to acquire two more hospitals.
Gayle Cook
Net worth: $3.7 billion
Forbes billionaires rank: 104
Age: 78
Education: She has a high school diploma.
Background: Gayle Cook and William Cook co-founded a medical device company called the Cook Group Incorporated in 1963. Using a spare bedroom in their apartment as their first factory, they began building wire guides, needles, and catheters.
Now Cook Group has offices from the U.S. to Europe, around the Pacific Rim, and is expanding throughout Asia. Today the company specializes in stents and antibiotic catheters. The company recently launched a new arm focusing on cell and tissue processing and cryopreservation technologies.
After the death of Gayle’s husband in 2011 she inherited his stake in the company and currently serves on the board.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider