Ge Li
Ge Li (Chinese: 李革; pinyin: Lǐ Gé) is a Chinese-American entrepreneur and philanthropist who is the founder and chairman of WuXi AppTec, a contract pharmaceutical research, development, and manufacturing organization (CRDMO).
Career
Li was born in China and graduated from Affiliated High School of Peking University. He received his B.A. from Peking University in 1989 and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Columbia University in 1994. At Columbia, Li's mentors included W. Clark Still and Koji Nakanishi.
He worked for Pharmacopeia, Inc., and was sent to China to establish a joint business venture for the company. Following this visit, Li left the company and co-founded WuXi AppTec with his wife, Ning Zhao, in Shanghai in 2000. In 2016, WuXi AppTec opened a facility in San Diego, California, expanding its presence in the United States. The facility was intended to support small molecule screening, discovery biology, and process research and development, as well as provide Phase I Good manufacturing practice (GMP) services for North American clients. The company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange before being listed in Hong Kong in 2018.
In 2011, Li was recognized as a member of the Committee of One Hundred.
As of 2022, his net worth is estimated at $10 billion, placing him among the wealthiest individuals in China and the United States. In 2020, he was ranked as the second wealthiest American pharmaceutical businessperson. He was recognized as one of the top ten Chinese CEOs by Forbes China in 2022.
Philanthropic activities
In 2018, Li and Zhao donated 100 million RMB to Peking University to establish the "Li Ge-Zhao Ning Education Fund". They were subsequently named honorary trustees of the university.
In 2020, the couple donated $21.5 million to Columbia University to support research and teaching in chemistry , and in 2021, they contributed $20 million to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center for lung cancer research.<
Personal life and family
Li was married to Ning Zhao, a classmate from Peking University, a fellow Ph.D. graduate from Columbia University, and former senior vice president and global head of human resources at WuXi AppTec. Zhao passed away on May 16, 2023, after a 20-year illness.