Ge Li

Ge Li (Chinese: 李革) is a Chinese American entrepreneur and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of WuXi AppTec, a contract pharmaceutical research firm.

Career
Ge Li was born in China. He graduated from Affiliated High School of Peking University and received his B.A. from Peking University in 1989 and Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Columbia University in 1994. At Columbia, Li was mentored by W. Clark Still and Koji Nakanishi.

He worked for Pharmacopeia, Inc. and was sent to China to form a joint business venture on behalf of the company. Inspired by the visit, Li quit the company and co-founded WuXi AppTec with his wife, Ning Zhao, in Shanghai in 2000. The company was listed in New York Stock Exchange before going public in Hong Kong in 2018.

In 2011, Li was named a member of the Committee of One Hundred.

As of 2022, his net worth stands at $10 billion, making him one of the richest men in China and the United States. He is also the second richest American pharmaceutical businessperson as of 2020. He is also named one of the top ten Chinese CEOs by Forbes China.

Philanthropic activities
In 2018, Li and Ning Zhao donated RMB 100 million to Peking University, setting up the Li Ge-Zhao Ning Education Fund of Peking University. They were named the university's honorary trustees.

In 2020, the couple donated $21.5 million to Columbia to advance research and teaching in chemistry.

In 2021, the couple donated $20 million to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to support lung cancer research.

Personal life and family
Li was married to Ning Zhao, his classmate at Peking University, a fellow Ph.D. graduate from Columbia University and formerly senior vice president and global head of human resources at WuXi AppTec. Zhao died on May 16, 2023, after a 20-year battle with cancer.