Ventilator company founders add $7.3bn to their wealth – The National

Ventilator company founders add $7.3bn to their wealth – The National

Ventilator company founders add $7.3bn to their wealth. As the coronavirus pandemic wrecks economies, markets and fortunes, three founders of a company that makes ventilators have added a combined $7.3 billion (Dh27bn) to their wealth this year.. Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics shares have climbed 41 per cent, fuelled by a surge in demand for the life-saving devices.. Covid-19, the disease caused by the virus, has flooded hospitals worldwide with patients struggling to breathe.. The global health crisis has exposed a shortage of ventilators -- the equipment health-care providers rely on to keep critically sick patients alive.. The Society of Critical Care Medicine estimates that 960,000 patients would need ventilator support in the US, but the nation only has about 200,000 such machines.. Until late last month, Mindray's ventilators didn't have approvals in the US market but the Food and Drug Administration authorised their use under an emergency rule designed to help ease the shortage.. Beijing Aeonmed also got FDA authorisation last month, according to the regulator's website.. Shares of Jiangsu Yuyue Medical Equipment & Supply, another maker, have rallied 98 per cent this year in Shenzhen, boosting its market value to $5.7bn.. The company, which has 17 subsidiaries in China