Forbes is out with its annual list of billionaires, and the roster resembles last year’s list, with the top 10 billionaires pretty much who you might expect, with Bill Gates of Microsoft leading the pack – again, with a net worth of $86 billion. He’s followed closely by multi-national conglomerate Bershire-Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, with a net worth of $75.6 billion.
Incidentally, the top 10 billionaires are all men.
It was a record year for the richest people on the planet, according to Forbes. The number of billionaires jumped 13 percent to 2,043, up from 1,810 last year.
Most interesting to Healthcare IT News readers are the people on the list influencing the healthcare industry, health IT and pharmaceuticals.
Check out the slideshow above to see the billionaires you are likely to recognize.
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President Donald Trump
Television and real estate are listed the sources of Trump's estimated $3.5 billion net worth, which landed him at 544 on the Fobres list. Whether you agree of disagree with his policies, the President is playing a big role in defining U.S. healthcare.
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Epic Systems founder and CEO Judy Faulkner
Judy Faulkner, founder and CEO of Epic Systems, is worth an estimated $2.4 billion: More than half of the U.S. population’s medical information is stored in the software Faulkner created. She founded Epic Systems in 1979. The company, based in Verona, Wis, is privately held. Its clients include some of the largest and most prestigious health systems in the country. Her fortune puts her at No. 867 on the list. She has pledged (along with other billionaires) to leave 99 percent of her wealth to charity.
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Epic CEO Judy Faulkner reveals two new EHR versions are in development
A founder and the CEO of Cerner Neal Patterson
The son of tenant farmers, Neal Patterson co-founded the Kansas City-based Cerner in 1979 with colleagues from Arthur Andersen's consulting business. Forbes pegs his net worth at $1.5 billion. He is No. 1,376 on the list.
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Allscripts, Cerner, Epic signal more open EHRs ahead
Cerner president Zane Burke reveals open approach to interoperability
Phillip Ragon, founder and CEO of InterSystems
Phillip Terrence Ragon, who goes by “Terry,” owns Cambridge, Mass.-based InterSystems, a $574 million company that sells software to enablle hospitals and banks to analyze big data. He founded the company in 1978 and owns all of it. His net worth is listed at $2.1 billion, which places him at No. 1,030 on the Forbes list.
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InterSystems inks population health pact with Clinical Architecture
Patrick Soon-Shiong, chairman of NantWorks
Patrick Soon-Shing, with a net worth of $8.6 billion, is a well-known name in the health IT realm. Forbes calls him “America’s richest doctor.” And he has been under fire of late, with a series of articles questioning his business ethics. He owns NantWorks, a network of health startups. He also has stakes in media firm tronc and the Los Angeles Lakers. His biotech startup, NantHealth, went public in 2016. He is No. 51 on the list.
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Soon-Shiong debuts AI, cloud platform, says FDA gives nod to cancer vaccine (UPDATED)
NantHealth stock plummets after second damning report on Patrick Soon-Shiong
Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell
Michael Dell is the chairman and CEO of computer giant Dell, a company he started in his University of Texas dorm room. According to Forbes, most of Dell’s fortune lies in his private investment firm MSD Capital, which has a wide array of investments. With a $20.4 billion net worth, Dell is listed at No. 38 on the list.
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Michael Dell at HIMSS17: Micro-segment for healthcare cybersecurity; Embrace risk to innovate
