Randal J. Kirk (born March 1, 1954) is an American billionaire businessman and investor in

pharmaceuticals Medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal product, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the ...

and

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

. Kirk was the

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Intrexon Precigen, Inc. (formerly Intrexon Corporation, NASDAQ: PGEN) is an American biotechnology company. Its president and CEO is Helen Sabzevari. Intrexon was founded in 1998, and is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland. With a suite of proprietary a ...

(

NYSE The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

: XON), a biotechnology company, until 2020. Kirk started as a lawyer, but is best known for his investments in pharmaceutical and biotech companies. In addition to high-profile sales of New River Pharmaceuticals, and Clinical Data, Kirk founded investment firm Third Security, and has held board seats with biotech companies, such as Scios. As of May 2024, ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' estimated his net worth at US$1.4 billion.

Early life and education

Randal J. Kirk was born in

Pleasanton, California Pleasanton is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the Amador Valley, it is an upscale suburb in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population was 79,871 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...

. The son of a

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

master sergeant A master sergeant is the military rank for a senior non-commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries. Israel Defense Forces The (abbreviated "", master sergeant) is a non-commissioned officer () rank in the Israel Defense Force ...

, Kirk and his family moved from California to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

before settling in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

and

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. Kirk graduated from

Pulaski High School Pulaski High School is a public high school in Pulaski, Wisconsin, United States, in Brown County (school district also serves parts of Shawano, Outagamie and Oconto counties), that serves students in grades 9 through 12. Its mascot is the R ...

Pulaski County, Virginia Pulaski County is a county located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 33,800. Its county seat is Pulaski. Pulaski County is part of the Blacksburg-Christiansburg metropolitan a ...

. Following high school, Kirk worked selling cars and motorcycles, and enrolled part-time at

Radford University Radford University is a public university in Radford, Virginia, United States. It is one of the state's eight doctorate-granting public universities. Founded in 1910, Radford offers curricula for undergraduates in more than 100 fields, graduate ...

to study business. He earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

at Radford in 1976, followed by a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

in 1979.

Career

Kirk was admitted to the bar in 1980, becoming the only attorney in

Bland, Virginia Bland is a census-designated place (CDP) in and the county seat of Bland County, Virginia, United States. Bland was originally known as Bland Court House. The population as of the 2020 Census was 312. Climate The climate in this area features m ...

, and began a practice he ran until 1990. In 1983, he partnered with Bland County pharmacist John Gregory to found the next-day pharmaceutical distributor General Injectables and Vaccines. Kirk and his partners would go on to sell the business to Henry Schein, Inc. for $65 million in 1998. In 1996, Kirk founded New River Pharmaceuticals, where he served as chairman and CEO and took the company public in 2004. The developer of attention-deficit drug

Vyvanse Lisdexamfetamine, sold under the brand names Vyvanse and Elvanse among others, is a stimulant medication that is used as a treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adults and for moderate-to-severe binge e ...

, New River would prove to be Kirk's single biggest payoff when he sold the company to

Shire Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...

in 2007 for $2.6 billion, making over a $1 billion for Kirk himself. In 1999, Kirk founded the life-sciences investment firm Third Security, LLC, where he is senior managing director, CEO and chairman. From 2000 to 2002, Kirk served as a member of the board of directors for Scios, Inc., a maker of heart disease medication that later sold to

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

for $2.4 billion. Kirk also became the majority stock holder and chairman of

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is located roughly west of Downtown Boston, and comprises a patchwork of thirteen villages. The city borders Boston to the northeast and southeast (via the neighborhoods of ...

-based pharmaceutical company Clinical Data, Inc. In 2011, shortly after Clinical Data's drug Viibryd received regulatory approval,

Forest Laboratories Forest Laboratories was a company in the pharmaceutical industry incorporated in Delaware, with its principal office in New York City. It was known for licensing European pharmaceuticals for sale in the United States. On July 1, 2014, the compan ...

bought Clinical Data for $1.2 billion. Kirk became involved with

company

in the 2000s. He was named chairman of its board in 2008 and became CEO in 2009. Kirk took Intrexon public in 2013, taking the company's market cap to $2.5 billion with the

IPO An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

. In early 2020, Intrexon adopted the name of its subsidiary, Precigen, and narrowed its focus to human gene editing. With the change in name the CEO of subsidiary Precigen, Helen Sabzevari, took over leadership of the company from Kirk. Intrexon sold

AquaBounty AquaBounty Technologies is a biotechnology and aquaculture company based in Maynard, Massachusetts, United States. The company is notable for its research and development of genetically modified fish. It aims to create products that aim to increa ...

to TS Aquaculture, LLC, a privately held company managed by Third Security, LLC, a venture capital firm led by former Intrexon Chairman & CEO Randal Kirk. In addition to AquaBounty's development of genetically modified salmon, Kirk is involved in other companies advocating the approval of genetic engineering, including disease-resistant mosquitoes and an apple which resists browning. Other projects of Kirk's companies include creating cancer treatments, gasoline substitutes, crop protection, and improving

bovine Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including Bos, cattle, bison, African buffalo, Bubalus, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The members of this gro ...

genetics.

Recognition

Kirk has been profiled by SynBioBeta and

. In 2008,

Gov.

Tim Kaine Timothy Michael Kaine ( ; born February 26, 1958) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Virginia since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party (United States ...

named Kirk Virginia's Outstanding Industrialist for the Year. He has spoken at the SynBioBeta Conference, BioFlorida, Klick Ideas Exchange and was a Borlaug Dialogue Speaker at the World Food Prize.

Philanthropy and other roles

Following the sale of General Injectables and Vaccines, Kirk donated $1 million to Radford University, creating the Zylphia Shu-En Kirk Endowment named after his daughter. Kirk has served on the board of directors of the Radford University Foundation and the school's board of visitors. Kirk was a member of

's board of visitors from 2009 to 2012. Kirk has also donated substantially to political causes. He considers himself a political independent, and has supported both

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and Democrats. He has been especially involved in Virginia politics, donating $1.8 million to candidates for state office, including $200,000 to

Terry McAuliffe Terence Richard McAuliffe (born February 9, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the List of governors of Virginia, 72nd governor of Virginia from 2014 to 2018. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...

2009 Virginia gubernatorial election The 2009 Virginia gubernatorial election took place in Virginia on November 3, 2009. The incumbent Governor of Virginia, governor, Democratic Party (United States), Democrat Tim Kaine, was not eligible to run due to term limits in the United ...

Personal life

Kirk lives in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

and has four children. According to ''Forbes'', Kirk is worth $2.0 billion and ranks No. 1135 on its billionaires list. Kirk's hobbies include falconry.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirk, Randal J. 1954 births Living people People from Pleasanton, California Businesspeople from Virginia Radford University alumni University of Virginia School of Law alumni People from Dublin, Virginia Virginia lawyers American billionaires People from Bland County, Virginia 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople 20th-century American lawyers Businesspeople from California