Ugur Sahin
Source of wealth: Biotechnology
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The scale of their wealth
Health
The price of life
Let's compare Ugur Sahin's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country
Ugur Sahin could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 1.7 years.
But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country
On the other end, Ugur Sahin could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 0.8 years.
Education
Buying the future
Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country
Ugur Sahin could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 1.1 years.
And yes, we can also compare it with a rich country
But they couldn't just cover the cost of a poor country; Luxembourg is considered the country with the highest per capita investment in education in the world, and Ugur Sahin could pay for it entirely for 1.5 years.
Research
The monopoly on progress
Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country
Ugur Sahin could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 6.5 years.
And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide
But even if we compare the total wealth of Ugur Sahin with Israel, the country that invests the most per capita in research in the world, they could cover the total cost of the system for 0.1 years.
Gold
Everyday luxuries
Ugur Sahin's fortune is equivalent to 26 tons of gold. It's hard to process, since we don't usually keep a handful of gold bars in our piggy banks.
A standard gold ring usually weighs between 4 and 7 grams. Let's say this one weighs 5 grams. It's usually 18 karats.
Based on today's gold price (excluding the jeweler's commission, shipping, or anything else), that ring would be worth $546.86.
Ugur Sahin could buy 7,033,437 gold rings. That's a lot of fingers and way too many gifts!!
And if you're struggling to visualize that many rings, it would take 1 trucks to transport them. Although Ugur Sahin will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.
Biography
Uğur Şahin is CEO and cofounder of German biotech firm BioNTech, which partnered with Pfizer to produce the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the US.
Şahin led BioNTech to start on a vaccine for the coronavirus in early 2020; it partnered with Pfizer in March 2020 and got approval in December.
Şahin, who was born in Turkey and grew up in Germany, owns about 17% of BioNTech, which went public on the Nasdaq in October 2019.
In 2001 Şahin and his immunologist wife, ?zlem T'reci, cofounded Ganymed Pharmaceuticals; Astellas Pharma acquired Ganymed in 2016 for $460 million.
Şahin and his wife T'reci cofounded BioNTech in 2008, backed by German billionaire brothers Thomas and Andreas Struengmann.
Financial Assets
Monthly wealth history
Fortune comparison
Historical data not available for comparison