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 and five individuals who hold medical degrees.
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 five richest MDs of 2024:
1. Thomas Frist Jr., MD, $20.2 billion, founded Hospital Corp. of America in 1968.
2. Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, $5.8 billion, was a practicing physician before inventing the cancer medication Abraxane.
3. Gary Michelson, MD, $1.8 billion, is a retired orthopedic and spine surgeon who holds over 340 U.S. patents.
4. James Leininger, MD, $1.7 billion, is the founder of medical device company Kinetic Concepts.
5. George Yancopoulos, MD, PhD, $1.6 billion, is the chief scientific officer at biotech firm Regeneron.
