Patrick Soon-Shiong, a South African-born billionaire, has seen his net worth fall by more than $800 million since the start of this year, owing to a plunge in the market value of his stake in ImmunityBio, a late-stage immunotherapy company.
Soon-Shiong, a South African-American transplant surgeon, bio-scientist, and biopharma billionaire best known for developing the cancer treatment Abraxane, has seen his net worth fall by $820 million from $8.93 billion on Jan. 1 to $8.11 billion at the time of writing this report, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The recent drop in his net worth can be attributed to a drop in the market value of his 76-percent stake in ImmunityBio, as shares in the immunotherapy company continue to fall as investors continue to liquidate their holdings in the firm in order to protect their capital.
The South African-born billionaire is now ranked 258th richest in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He was the 244th richest person in the world four weeks ago, trailing Anthony Pratt, the chairman of Visy, a Melbourne-based packaging and recycling company.
The market value of his ImmunityBio stake has fallen from $1.42 billion on Jan. 1 to $576 million at the time of writing, owing largely to a 66.4-percent year-to-date decline in the company’s share price from $4.77 to $1.68.
ImmunityBio announced earlier this year the completion of a $50-million equity financing to provide additional working capital and support its ongoing business operations.
In addition, the company signed a securities purchase agreement with various institutional investors, under which it will issue common stock and warrants to strengthen its operations as it continues to manufacture cell and immunotherapy products with the goal of fortifying patients’ immune systems.
