Last week, business magazine Forbes published its richest list of Singapore for 2021 and Li Xiting ranked first with a net worth of US $ 23 billion (~ US $ 31 billion), second place last year.
The Singapore citizen also ranks 82nd on Forbes ’Billionaires 2021 list and 20th on China’s Forbes 2020 rich list.
Its net worth has increased steadily over the years: from 2.1 billion US dollars in March 2018, to 5.5 billion US dollars in March 2019, to 11.6 billion euros in April 2020, to 21.5 billion of dollars in April 2021.
Li, who is the founder of Shenzhen fan manufacturer Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics, went through a wave of growing demand for medical equipment, which was crowned the richest person in Singapore today.
Meet the man behind Mindray
He founded Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics in 1991, together with Xu Hang (who is also a billionaire) and Cheng Minghe.
The Shenzhen-based company manufactures health surveillance systems, ventilators, defibrillators, anesthesia machines and infusion systems, and was the first Chinese medical equipment company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. .
In 2019, the company reported revenue of 16.6 billion yuan (about 3 billion US dollars).
With a global presence, Mindray stated on its website that it has 39 subsidiaries and that it serves more than 190 countries and regions around the world.
It currently employs more than 10,000 employees in 30 countries and a quarter are R&D experts who explore the most advanced medical technology. He added that top-tier medical institutes recognize its performance beyond China, including Europe and the United States.
Li, now 70, emigrated to Singapore in 2012. He also has a degree in science from China University of Science and Technology.
Covid-19 boosted his wealth
Since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak, Mindray has been at the forefront of this battle. Unfortunately, the virus has flooded hospitals around the world with patients struggling to breathe and exposed a global lack of ventilators.
Ventilators, a medical device that helps patients breathe, are critical in treating patients with COVID-19 whose lungs are attacked by respiratory disease.
Unlike the highly competitive nature of producing masks, it is a small market, as fans for buildings are technical and highly specialized.
This caused the company to increase production capacity, supplying much-needed medical equipment to the hardest-hit areas of China and abroad.
We are doing our best to increase manufacturing capacity. Our medical products, including patient monitors, ventilators, and ultrasound devices, are crucial for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with COVID-19.
In the face of growing demand from healthcare providers around the world and a disruption in the global supply chain, we have been cooperating with governments and suppliers to mitigate shortages and safeguard the production line. Our manufacturing center employees canceled the official holidays and, thanks to their effort, we have multiplied the manufacturing capacity.
– Li Xiting, president of Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics in a company media statement
Mindray board secretary Li Wenmei told him Bloomberg that global demand is at least ten times higher than that available in hospitals.
When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the coronavirus outbreak a global pandemic in March 2020, Li he received countless calls from ambassadors and diplomatic missions to China to supply them with medical devices.
Until the end of March 2020, Mindray fans had no approvals in the U.S. market, but the Food and Drug Administration authorized their use according to an emergency standard designed to help alleviate the shortage.
This move has also boosted Mindray’s prospects, which manufactures 3,000 fans a month. According to a earnings report submitted in April 2020, Mindray said Europe’s orders had risen sharply.
A company spokesman revealed this about 100 countries placed orders then including Italy, which bought the first batch of nearly 10,000 computers, including fans and monitors.
The supply of ventilators and other medical equipment at a time when the world needed them severely raised the price of Mindray’s shares, adding another $ 5 billion to his fortune and reaching second place on the 2020 list.
Rising demand for fans has caused the company’s shares to rise 40% amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Since it was listed in October 2018, the company’s shares have risen about 320 percent.
The pandemic turned out to be a turning point for the company. Mindray’s shares have doubled since March last year, making the 30-year-old the largest of China’s 17 listed medical supplies companies.
Mindray’s market value has also grown by US $ 3.8 billion a month last year, amidst the demand for its fans.
In April 2020, it was also reported that Mindray has one market capitalization of 44 billion US dollars.
Although Mindray and Li’s net worth has grown significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic, the fan boom will not last forever.
As societies grow, the demand for respiratory support devices will grow, but it will not match the scale seen during this crisis. That said, sales will have to fall after the outbreak.
However, it’s worth noting that Mindray doesn’t just want to make money with the pandemic. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Mindray donated US $ 4.6 million worth of medical devices to hospitals in heavily affected areas such as Wuhan and northern Italy.
Moving forward, Mindray plans to build more factories especially in China and increase mergers and acquisitions to acquire advanced technologies in developed countries.
In an interview with South China Morning Post, Li also said it intends to target the US $ 91 billion giant in the top three long-term world market positions.
Featured Image Credit: South China Morning Post
