Wayne Rothbaum
Source of wealth: Biotech investing
...
...
The scale of their wealth
Health
The price of life
Let's compare Wayne Rothbaum's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country
Wayne Rothbaum could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 1.3 years.
But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country
On the other end, Wayne Rothbaum could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 0.6 years.
Education
Buying the future
Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country
Wayne Rothbaum could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 0.9 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 Wayne Rothbaum could pay for it entirely for 1.2 years.
Research
The monopoly on progress
Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country
Wayne Rothbaum could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 4.9 years.
And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide
But even if we compare the total wealth of Wayne Rothbaum 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
Wayne Rothbaum's fortune is equivalent to 20 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.
Wayne Rothbaum could buy 5,316,201 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 Wayne Rothbaum will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.
Biography
Wayne Rothbaum, who founded investment firm Quogue Capital in 2001, became a wildly successful biotech investor, deploying only his own funds.
In 2012, Rothbaum cofounded and became the largest investor in cancer drug developer Acerta Pharma, whose drug Calquence was approved to treat forms of lymphoma and leukemia.
In 2016, AstraZeneca paid $4 billion for 55% of Acerta Pharma and agreed to acquire the remainder of Acerta for nearly $2.5 billion paid between 2022 and 2024.
Rothbaum is executive chair of two cancer drug firms: Kartos Therapeutics, which he cofounded in 2016, and Telios Pharma, cofounded in 2019.
Rothbaum also led a restructuring of listed biotech firm Iovance Biotherapeutics, where he is a board member and the largest shareholder, with a 9% stake.
Financial Assets
Monthly wealth history
Fortune comparison
Historical data not available for comparison