Cyrus Poonawala: A horse enthusiast who became the vaccine king of the world

Cyrus Poonawala is known for his flamboyant lifestyle has a net worth of USD 18 billion.

Serum institute which was founded in Pune in 1966 went on to become World’s largest vaccine maker. And in turn made its founder a billionaire, the 5th Richest Indian in 2021 and a regular in the World’s billionaires list.

"We reach more children than Coca-Cola and Pepsi can ever hope to."- CYRUS POONAWALLA 

Today it is estimated that about 65% of the children in the world across 170 countries receive at least one vaccine manufactured by Serum Institute. Such is the positive impact to mankind by the vaccine manufacturer.

Cyrus Poonawala is the chairman and managing director of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group. Born to a horse breeder in Pune, Cyrus, founded SII in 1966 as a sideline to his 81-hectare (200-acre) thoroughbred racehorse stables Poonawalla Stud. Serum from purified horse blood was used in the production of early vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, and scarlet fever. Today, this billionaire and a horse enthusiast played a significant role to help the world combat many life-threatening diseases and the deadly Coronavirus.

Serum Institute produces over 1.5 billion doses annually of a variety of vaccines, including measles, polio and flu. Serum has multiple Covid-19 vaccine partnerships and has launched Covishield, the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University.

Poonawala is a regular on Forbes Billionaires since 2007. In March 2017, he was listed as India’s number 7 on the richest billionaire's list and 159th in the world, with a net worth of USD 8.1 billion.

Poonawalla was listed at 170th on the Forbes billionaires’ list for 2018, with a net worth estimated to be USD 9.1 billion which was valued at USD 9.5 billion in 2019.

He secured the 165th spot in 2020 with a net worth of USD 8.2 billion, the 6th richest Indian that year.

The Serum boss was listed at 169th on the Forbes billionaire’s list for the current year and 5th richest Indian with a net worth of USD 12.7 billion.

In October India became the third country to have administered 1 billion Covid jabs. The country achieved this feat in 278 days since the first vaccine, which was given on January 16, 2021, with more than 80% doses of Covishield.

The current net worth of the “Vaccine King“ is USD 18.1 billion. With every dose of Covishield administered a life is saved and a small fortune is made Cyrus Poonawala.