Ge Li (

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of v ...

: 李革) is a Chinese American entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of

WuXi AppTec WuXi AppTec (WuXi pronounced ''Wu-shee'') is a global pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical, and medical device company. The company covers the development cycle through five core operations, including small molecule R&D and manufacturing, biologics ...

, a contract pharmaceutical research firm. He is one of the richest men in China and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

Career

Ge Li was born in China. He graduated from

Affiliated High School of Peking University The Affiliated High School of Peking University (), abbreviated as ''Běi Dà Fù Zhōng'' (北大附中) or BDFZ, is a major public high school in Beijing that offers 7th-12th grade education. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious high ...

and received his B.A. from

Peking University Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charte ...

in 1989 and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manha ...

in 1994. At Columbia, Li was mentored by

W. Clark Still William Clark Still (born 1946) is an American organic chemistry, organic chemist. As a distinguished professor at Columbia University, Clark Still made significant contributions to the field of organic chemistry, particularly in the areas of na ...

and

Koji Nakanishi was a Japanese chemist who studied bioorganic chemistry and natural products. He served as Centennial Professor of Chemistry and chair of the Chemistry Department at Columbia University. Early life Nakanishi was born in Hong Kong on May 11, 19 ...

. He worked for

Pharmacopeia, Inc. Pharmacopeia was a public biotechnology company that pioneered the field of small molecule combinatorial chemistry. Pharmacopeia was founded by Larry Bock and Drs. Michael Wigler, Clark Still and Jack Chabala. Pharmacopeia went public in 1 ...

and was sent to China to form a joint business venture on behalf of the company. Inspired by the visit, Li quit the company and co-founded

with his wife, Ning Zhao, in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

in 2000. The company was listed in

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...

before going public in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

in 2018. In 2011, Li was named a member of the Committee of One Hundred. As of 2022, his net worth stands at $10 billion, making him one of the richest men in China and the

. He is also the second richest American pharmaceutical businessperson as of 2020. He is also named one of the top ten Chinese CEOs by ''Forbes'' ''China''.

Philanthropic activities

In 2018, Li and Zhao donated RMB 100 million to Peking University to set up the Li Ge-Zhao Ning Education Fund of Peking University and were named the university's honorary trustees. In 2020, the couple donated $21.5 million to Columbia to advance research and teaching in chemistry. In 2021, the couple donated $20 million to

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK or MSKCC) is a cancer treatment and research institution in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, founded in 1884 as the New York Cancer Hospital. MSKCC is one of 52 National Cancer Institute� ...

to support lung cancer research.

Personal life and family

Li is married to Ning Zhao, his classmate at Peking University and senior vice president and global head of human resources at

. He owns residences in

220 Central Park South 220 Central Park South is a residential skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, situated along Billionaires' Row on the south side of Central Park South between Broadway and Seventh Avenue. 220 Central Park South was designed by Ro ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

and

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Ge Living people Peking University alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni American billionaires Chinese billionaires American people of Chinese descent American philanthropists American company founders Chinese company founders Businesspeople in the pharmaceutical industry Year of birth missing (living people)