One of the world’s richest doctors, a Saudi paedriatician, returned to the ranks of the Middle East’s wealthiest private individuals after his healthcare firm saw a major rebound in its shares on Thursday.
The share rebound brought the Saudi doctor, Dr Sulaiman Al Habib’s fortune close to $12 billion.
Shares in Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Services Group Co have surged by 30 percent since hitting a one-year low in October, making Al Habib the third-richest person in the Middle East who’s not a member of a royal family, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The stock has risen six-fold since its initial public offering in 2020, putting it in touching distance of a record high, Bloomberg reported.
The billionaire, in his early 70’s, grew the $28 billion healthcare chain from a single clinic opened in 1993 to a company that operates 22 medical facilities and 22 pharmacies across Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain.
The firm has 10 hospitals and medical centers under development.
The doctor also invests in commercial real estate through a holding company, according to Dr Sulaiman Al Habib Medical Services Group Co.’s IPO prospectus.
Al Habib got a degree in medicine and surgery from Riyadh’s King Saud University in 1977 and completed a fellowship in pediatrics at the British Royal College of Physicians in 1984.
He has served as chief medical officer and head of pediatrics at two government-owned hospitals in Riyadh.
Al Habib is the fifth-wealthiest physician on the Bloomberg index, and one of few medical doctors to rank among the world’s richest people.
The Saudi tycoon has amassed one of the world’s largest health-related empires, rivaling Carl Cook and Hansjoerg Wyss, who have both built fortunes valued at more than $10 billion from selling medical devices, according to the Bloomberg index.
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