The number of billionaires has dramatically increased in Asia amid the pandemic. First, the manufacturers of personal protective equipment hit the Forbes lists by producing gloves and masks. Now the vaccine makers are on their way.
Singapore Raffles Medical Group’s shares have risen by 104% since March 2020. A curious fact is that the company’s CEO Loo Choon Yong is an ordinary Asian doctor. Raffles Medical's coronavirus vaccination contributed to the surge of shares. The company owns 15 vaccination centers in Singapore. Besides, it has contracts to test patients at the customs border, at airports, and prior to public events. In the first half of 2021, the net income of the private health care provider nearly doubled and was worth $27.8 million, while the revenue rose by 42% to $343.8 million. Loo Choon Yong’s share is estimated at $1.1 billion as 52% of the company belongs to him and his family.
Some experts say the success of such companies is temporary. They think that after the COVID-19 pandemic their profit may plunge. But Loo Choon Yong is not worried about this as he does not measure his success in terms of money. The 72-year-old doctor admitted that he didn’t measure the contribution of his colleagues by market capitalization or stock price. He added that Raffles Medical took good care of patients and that what actually mattered.
Loo Choon Yong and his friend Alfred Lo founded Raffles Medical, merging two clinics in 1976. Now the medical network has expanded to 60 branches over Singapore.
