Patrick Soon-Shiong

Owner, Los Angeles times

Patrick Soon-Shiong, born on July 29, 1952 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, is a physician, surgeon, entrepreneur, and newspaper owner. Growing up in the non-white section of Port Elizabeth, he attended a school for Chinese children run by the Anglican Church. As a young man, Soon-Shiong earned an M.D. at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. For a while, he practiced surgery in Canada before joining the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he completed surgical training. In 1984, became a board-certified surgeon. He is now a UCLA adjunct professor of surgery, executive director of the Wireless Health Institute, and a visiting professor at Imperial College London and Dartmouth College.

Soon-Shiong invented the cancer drug Abraxane, useful for fighting lung, breast, and pancreatic cancers. He is also the founder of NantWorks, a network of healthcare, biotech, and AI startups.

In 2015, Soon-Shiong invested in Tribune Publishing and, by 2018, became the sole owner of the L.A. Times, investing over $500 million to revitalize the newspaper. As owner, he halted layoffs, invested in infrastructure, and relocated the offices from downtown Los Angeles to El Segundo. L.A. Times editor, Norman Pearlstine, said, "He made the acquisition with very little due diligence, because he thought that it had to be easier than curing cancer." Additionally, Stephen DeWitt reflects, "Few figures in modern medicine have inspired as much controversy as Soon-Shiong. He gets very enthusiastic, and sometimes he might exaggerate."

Soon-Shiong has faced some controversies, such as accusations of financial misrepresentation, self-dealing, price gouging, and fraud. Lawsuits from former investors, business partners, other doctors, Cher, and brother Terrence (also a medical entrepreneur) have dogged him.

Patrick Soon-Shiong is on X, @DrPatSoonShiong.

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