Randal Kirk Net Worth, Achievement, Career & Personal Life

Randal Kirk Net Worth    $3.6 billion

Born on March 10, 1953, in Pleasanton, California, in the United States, American businessman Randal J. Kirk who started working as an attorney in Bland County, Virginia after passing the bar exam in 1980, is known to be the founder of General Injectables & Vaccines (GIV) which he co-founded with businessman John Gregory in 1983.

Later on, King Pharmaceuticals was founded. He attended Radford University for a bachelor’s degree in Economics and subsequently studied at the University of Virginia for his J.D.

When his relationship with John Gregory went sour and they split, Mr. retained his control of General Injectables & Vaccines while John Gregory managed King Pharmaceuticals.

Eventually, General Injectables & Vaccines firm was acquired by Henry Schein, Inc. for $65 million.

From there, Kirk Started New River Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company that specializes in turning existing drugs into more abuse-resistant medications. In 2007, the company was sold to Shire plc for $2.6 billion.

In 1999, this businessman started the Radford-based investment firm Third Security, LLC. Five years after, the investment firm combined with two other companies Carilion Health System and Virginia Tech Foundation, and NewVa Capital Partners was created.

Furthermore, Mr. Kirk has been the chairman and one of the majority shareholders of Clinical Data, Inc., a company that specializes in manufacturing antidepressant drugs.

He also served as the chairman and chief executive officer of the privately held company, Intrexon Corporation, until 2020. More details follow below.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

A lawyer, investor, and billionaire businessman, Randal J. Kirk was born on March 1, 1954, in Pleasanton, California, United States, into the family of a U.S. Air Force master sergeant and his wife.

The family left their home in California when Kirk was very young and moved to Texas before settling in Virginia, where he graduated from Pulaski High School in Pulaski County, Virginia.

After graduating from high school, Randal Kirk worked selling cars and motorcycles, while also studying business at Radford University in a part-time program.

He graduated from Radford in 1976 with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and bagged a Juris Doctor at the University of Virginia in 1979.

Professional Life: Business Career

Randal Kirk started his career as a lawyer in 1980 when he was admitted to the bar. He was the only attorney in Bland, Virginia, at the time, and practiced this profession for ten years.

In 1983, he partnered with pharmacist John Gregory based in Bland County to found the next-day pharmaceutical supplier General Injectables and Vaccines. Kirk and his partners later sold the business to Henry Schein, Inc. for the sum of $65 million in 1998.

In 1996, he founded New River Pharmaceuticals and served as chairman and chief executive officer until he sold the company to the Shire for $2.6 billion in 2007, pocketing more than $1 billion for himself.

In 1999, he founded the investment firm Third Security, LLC, where he occupies the positions of chairman, senior managing director, and chief executive officer.

From 2000 to 2002, he served as a member of the board of directors for Scios, Inc., a company that produces heart disease medication, which Johnson & Johnson later bought for $2.4 billion.

Kirk also became the chairman and majority stockholder of the Newton, Massachusetts-based pharmaceutical firm Clinical Data, Inc., which was acquired by Forest Labs for $1.2 billion in 2011 shortly after Clinical Data’s drug Viibryd received regulatory approval.

He became involved with biotechnology firm Intrexon in the 2000s, became chairman of its board in 2008, and was appointed chief executive officer in 2009.

Achievements: Awards & Honors

Mr. Randal Kirk has been profiled by Forbes magazine and SynBioBeta. He has spoken at Klick Ideas Exchange, the SynBioBeta Conference, and BioFlorida, and was a Borlaug Dialogue Presenter at the World Food Prize.

In 2008, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine named him the state’s Outstanding Industrialist for the Year.

Personal Life: Family, Private Interests

Mr. Kirk and his wife live in West Palm Beach, Florida. They have four children together.

His hobbies include falconry and golfing.

Philanthropy, Political Interests

Following the sale of General Injectables and Vaccines, the businessman donated $1 million to his alma mater Radford University, creating the Zylphia Shu-En Kirk Endowment which was named after his daughter.

He has served on the board of directors of the Radford University Foundation as well as the school’s board of visitors.

A member of the University of Virginia’s board of visitors for three years until 2012, Mr. Kirk has made many substantial donations to political causes.

He considers himself a political independent, and has, on numerous instances, supported both Republicans and Democrats. Kirk has been especially involved in Virginia politics.

He has donated over $2 million to candidates for state office, including $200,000 contributed toward Terry McAuliffe’s Virginia gubernatorial election in 2009.

Randal Kirk Net Worth: Salary, Income Sources, Assets

The American businessman and biotech investor Randal Kirk currently has an estimated net worth of 3.6 billion dollars.

Born in Pleasanton, California, Kirk became a lawyer and practiced for a decade before starting his very first company, the Virginia-based General Injectables, and Vaccines which was successful and spun off another pharmaceutical company called King Pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Kirk sold his portion for $65 million in cash, founded New River Pharmaceuticals in the mid-90s, and sold it for $2.6 billion in 2007 before launching a management investment firm and another pharmaceutical firm called Clinical Data which he sold for $2.1 billion in 2011.

He is a billionaire today all thanks to the numerous investments he has made in his life that paid off handsomely.