Finance Tech Billionaires in Biotech: A Cancer Breakthrough Story

Finance Tech Billionaires: The Rise of Bob Duggan

A surfer without a college degree has gone from baking cookies to building robots, minting billions in biotech, and ranking among the world's richest people. Bob Duggan, 80, is the co-CEO and chairman of Summit Therapeutics, a cancer drug developer. He has tripled his net worth to $15.9 billion this year, making him the 23rd biggest wealth gainer of 2024 and the 129th richest person globally, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index as of Thursday.

His net worth has soared thanks to his more than 550 million shares of Summit, a roughly 75% stake. The company's stock price has surged by over 1,100% in the past 12 months, lifting its market value to over $16 billion.

Significant Developments at Summit Therapeutics

• Summit stock jumped from about $12 on September 6 to a record high of $32 on September 13, but has since retreated to around $23.
• Stock price surged after the company released late-stage trial data showing one of its drugs, Ivonescimab, outperformed Merck's blockbuster Keytruda medication in certain lung cancer patients.

Duggan stands out in the biotech industry, where most leaders depend on their advanced degrees to maneuver through intricate, jargon-heavy medical research. He spent six years taking classes at UC Santa Barbara in the 1960s but never intended to earn a degree, aiming instead to find ways to make money, including investments in Ethernet companies.

Duggan once opened a bakery called Cookie Muncher's Paradise in 1976, later transforming it into a luxury sandwich chain, expanding it to 16 locations, and selling it for about $6 million in 1987, according to Bloomberg.