Those shares have surged in value by some 60 percent in recent months, due to Shenzhen Kangtai’s position as one of the many companies in the world currently working on a coronavirus vaccine and stock market speculators bet on their being successful. And Yuan’s shares, which thanks to the divorce she now owns outright, are collectively worth over $3 billion. Money like that always has to come from somewhere, so it stands to reason that Du’s net worth has seen an equivalent drop, going from $6.5 billion to $3.1 billion. However, the terms of the split dictated that the voting rights associated with those shares remain under Du’s control. Du has had a long career in the biotech business, and has been chairman of Shenzhen Kangtai since 2009, when Minhai, the pharmaceutical company he founded in 2004, was acquired by the larger firm.
