Patel is the chairman and major shareholder of Zydus Lifesciences, the fourth-largest drugmaker in India. The Ahmedabad, India-based firm received approval in 2013 from regulators to sell Lipaglyn, the world's first drug to treat diabetic dyslipidemia. It spent more than $250 million to develop the treatment over 12 years.
The majority of Patel's fortune comes from a 75% stake in Zydus Lifesciences, part of the Zydus Cadila group. The Ahmedabad, India-based company is the fourth-largest in the Indian pharmaceutical market, according to its website.
The shares are held by a promoter group, which includes family members and a family trust and holding company, according to a January 2024 regulatory filing. Patel is credited with all these shares to reflect his role as chairman and managing director.
He also owns a 11.6% stake in Zydus Wellness, the consumer-product arm of the Zydus Cadila group, according to a January 2024 regulatory filing. Shares held by Zydus Lifesciences are excluded from the calculation.
The value of his cash holdings is based on an analysis of dividends and insider transactions since 2005, the earliest date shareholdings could be verified, as well as taxes and market performance.
A spokesperson for Zydus didn't respond to requests for comment on Patel's net worth calculation.
Pankaj Patel was born in 1953 in Gujarat, India. He received both a bachelor's and a master's degree in pharmacy from Gujarat University.
The year before Patel was born, his father, Ramanbhai, had co-founded a pharmaceutical company called Cadila Laboratories together with Indravadan Modi. It focused on vitamins to treat anemia. Patel joined the company in 1976. In 1995, a rift between the two founders' families resulted in the company being split down the middle. At the time, each unit generated around $43 million of revenue. Modi's part, called Cadila Pharmaceuticals, remained closely held.
The Patel family took its part, called as Cadila Healthcare, public in 2000. Patel then began expanding the company through a series of acquisitions. It reached $1 billion in revenue in 2011. It operates a range of subsidiaries focusing on different drugs. In 2022, Cadila rebranded itself as Zydus Lifesciences, derived from the Zeus, the Greek god.
Patel's son, Sharvil, succeeded him as the company's managing director in July 2017.