Amid COVID-19 crisis, Singapore's richest man has grown richer
The global outbreak of COVID-19 has left economies crumbling. Businesses in the services and manufacturing sectors have been deeply hit, and there is no telling when exactly things are going to be normal. Evidently though, according to Bloomberg, this crisis hasn't affected Singapore's richest man, who has, in fact, grown even richer since the virus started spreading. Here's why.
Li Xiting and his ventilator-making company
Singapore's richest man, Li Xiting, is the chairman and co-founder of Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics - a China-based medical equipment supplier. Now, the thing is, ever since COVID-19 started spreading, hospitals have been overwhelmed with critical cases of patients with breathing problems, which has led to a significant increase in the demand for ventilators - a key product from Mindray.
Xiting added $3.7 billion to his wealth
The surge in the demand for the life-saving machine has increased the value of Mindray's shares by a whopping 41% this year. This has increased the wealth of the three co-founders of the company by a combined $7.3 billion. Of this, $3.7 billion has gone to Xiting alone, taking his total net worth up to $12.7 billion, according to Bloomberg's Billionaire Index.
US approval contributing to Mindray's growth
The growth in Mindray's business and Xiting's wealth has also been fast-tracked by FDA's emergency authorization, which allowed the company to supply its ventilators to American hospitals. Until last month, they were not approved to supply to American hospitals, but the shortage, despite support from automakers like Ford, Tesla, and General Motors, led to the change.
Global ventilator demand 10 times of what's available
Having said that, the value of Mindray, which makes 3,000 ventilators a month, is expected to grow further. The number of COVID-19 cases is increasing drastically around the world, leading to a staggering increase in the demand for ventilators for critical patients. According to Mindray's board secretary Li Wenmei, the current global demand of ventilators is at least 10 times of what is available.
So far, COVID-19 has killed over 67,000 worldwide
Ever since the disease started spreading from the Chinese city of Wuhan, more than 12 lakh people have been infected around the world while over 67,000 have lost their lives. In the US alone, more than 3 lakh infections have been recorded.
