It doesn’t come as a surprise that doctors are high earners. But not all physicians are equal- that is, some have accomplished more in their careers than others. Some are even media personalities with their own television and radio shows.
Who are these high earners? What do they do? Where did they get their wealth from? If you want to know, be sure to stick around because that’s what we’ll be going over below!
Top 10 Richest Doctors in the World – 2025 List
Without further ado, here are some of the wealthiest doctors in the world.
10. Dr. Drew
Dr. Drew is a certified internalist and addiction medicine specialist. On top of that, he’s also a media personality. Not only was he the host of the syndicated radio talk show Loveline, from 1984 to 2016, but he also hosted the HLN talk show Dr. Drew On Call, which ran from 2011 to 2016.
That’s not all, he was also the host of The CW half-hour daytime show Lifechangers, which helped people deal with various conflicts in their lives, whether it’s addiction or relationship issues. From 2008 to 2012, he also starred in the VH1 show Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, as well as its spinoffs Celebrity Rehab Presents Sober House and Sex Rehab with Dr. Drew.
As of 2025, he also hosts a number of podcasts including Dr. Drew After Dark, This Life with Dr. Drew, The Adam and Drew Show, and The Dr. Drew Podcast.
When he isn’t on television or working on his podcasts, he’s working at his private clinic in South Pasadena. Prior to opening his own practice, he worked at Las Encinas Hospital at the Department of Chemical Dependency Services.
9. Kathy Fields
Dr. Fields is a certified dermatologist who owns her own prrivate practice in the San Francisco Area. She’s also the co-founder of Rodan + Fields, a multi-leveling marketing company that specializes in a variety of anti-aging skincare products from face serums to sunscreens. She had founded the company with Katie Rodan back in 2002 and had sold it a year later for a significant amount. If anything, it’s one of the things that has contributed to her immense wealth. In 2018, she was listed as one of “America’s Self-Made Women” on Forbes Magazine.
In addition to co-founding Rodan + Fields, she’s also the co-creator of Proactive, a line of skincare products that includes body washes, moisturizers, and treatment products. They’re also known for their three-step acne kit, which consists of a lotion, toner, and cleanser.
The brand is also endorsed by a number of celebrities, which has helped it become one of the most popular skincare brands in the world. In 2010 alone, they made more than $800 million in sales.
When she isn’t working at her private practice, she works as an assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco.
8. Terry Dubrow
Dr. Dubrow is a plastic surgeon who is based in Newport Beach, California. He received his medical degree from the Los Angeles School of Medicine and completed his residency in general surgery t Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He later completed his plastic and reconstruction surgery fellowship at the UCLA Medical Center.
A television personality, he has hosted a number of talk shows over the years including The Swan, Botched, as well as its spin-off, Botched by Nature.
In 2011, he also starred in the reality series Bridalplasty, which featured a group of brides-to-be who competed for a chance to win their dream wedding and dream plastic surgery procedures. However, the show was heavily criticized for embracing cosmetic surgery. As a result, it was canceled after one season.
Since then, he has also narrated the series License to Kill, which investigates a number of cases of murderous nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals.
He has also published a number of books including The Dubrow Diet: Interview Eating to Lose Weight, The Dubrow Keto Fusion Diet, and Dr. and Mrs. Guinea Pig Presents: The Only Guide You’ll Ever Need to the Best Anti-Aging Treatments.
7. James Andrews
Dr. Andrews is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in shoulder, knee, and elbow injuries, especially those that involve damaged ligaments. He practices in Gulf Breeze, Florida, and has worked on a number of high-profile athletes including Bo Jackson, John Smoltz, Chase Young, Adrian Peterson, Jack Nicklaus, Michael Jordan, and Drew Brees
He has also chaired and co-founded a number of medical centers and research bodies throughout his career including the American Sports Medicine Institute, the Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopedic Center, the Andrews Research and Education Foundation, and the Andrews Institute. He’s also on the medical advisory board for Tenex Health, a company that manufactures a system for the treatment of chronic fascia and tendon pain.
Originally from Homer, Louisiana, he received his medical degree from Louisiana State University, where he was a member of the pole vaulting team, and later completed his orthopedic residency at Tulane Medical School. He also completed fellowships at the University of Lyon and the University of Virginia School of Medicine.
If anything, he’s one of the best-known orthopedic surgeons in the country.
6. Gary Michelson
Dr. Michelson is an orthopedic and spinal surgeon. He attended Hahnemann Medical College and later completed his medical residency at Hahne Medical Hospital. He then went on to complete a spinal surgery fellowship at St. Luke’s Medical Center.
Throughout his career, he developed a variety of new instruments, implants, and procedures for spinal surgery. These technologies, also known as “Michelson Devices”, have greatly improved outcomes by decreasing incision size and blood loss.
In 2005, he sold many of his patents to the American medical device company Medtronic for $1.35 billion. For his contributions to spinal surgery, he has received a number of accolades including the Albert. B Sabin Humanitarian Award in 2015. He has also received an Innovation Award for Technology from the LA Medical Association.
Since retiring from private practice, he has turned his attention to philanthropy. Not only does he have his own charitable foundation, to which he himself contributed $100 million, but he also established the Michelson Found Animals Foundation, the Michelson Institute for Intellectual Property, the Michelson Medical Research Foundation, and the Michelson Twenty Millions of Minds Foundation.
5. Â Phillip Frost
Dr. Frost received his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1961. However, he never practiced medicine. Rather, his wealth comes from Ivax, a pharmaceutical business that he founded in the 1980s. In 2006, he sold the company for $7.4 billion to Teva Pharmaceuticals. Following the sale, he became a member of their Board of Directors.
Since then, he has been teaching as a professor of dermatology at the University of Miami School of Medicine. He is also the CEO of OPKO Health, a medical test and medication company, and the chairman of Ladenburg Thalmann Financial Services, an asset management and investment banking firm.
Not only that but he has also invested in a number of companies including MusclePharm, Drone Aviation Holding Corp, Senesco Technologies, and Cocrystal Pharma, Inc.
He’s also a philanthropist and has donated millions of dollars over the years. In 2003, he gave $33 million to the University of Miami’s School of Music and more recently in 2017, he donated $100 million to the University of Miami to support basic and applied sciences and engineering.
4. Â Thomas Frist
Dr. Frist is the richest man in Tennessee with an estimated net worth of $20 billion. A certified physician, he received his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine. After graduating, he served with the United States Air Force as a flight surgeon. He later co-founded the Hospital Corporation of America, an operator of healthcare facilities with his father, in 1968, which owns and operates more than 180 hospitals and 1,850 care centers in the US and London.
By 1977, he had become the president of the company. In the end, he served as the CEO and chairman until 2001 and 2002 respectively.
In addition to that, he also served on the Board of Directors of IBM for eleven years, from 1984 to 1995, and was a member of the Business Council and the chair of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. In 2008, he also co-founded a Healthcare Corporation that’s based in Cixi, China.
He has also won a number of accolades including the Vanderbitt’s Distinguished Alumni Award, the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement, and the United Way Lifetime Achievement Award.
3. Leonard Schleifer
Dr. Schleifer is the chief executive and co-founder of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company that specializes in neurotrophic factors and their regenerative abilities. He had founded the company in 1988 after noticing that there was a lack of research on the nervous system, with $1 million that he received from venture capitalist George Sing.
In 2011, the company released its first successful drug for age-related macular degeneration, Eylea. It was later licensed to Aventis. Within a few years, it had grossed billions of dollars in revenue. According to The New York Times, he made more than $41 million as the CEO of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in 2014, making him one of the highest-paid CEOS of a publicly traded company in the United States.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, his company also worked with Sanofi to evaluate the COVID-19 antibody agent, Kevzara, in those who are hospitalized.
Originally from Queens, New York, he received his medical degree from the University of Virginia and later worked at New York Hospital, where he trained in neurology. During his time there, he was also a junior faculty member at the facility.
2. George Yancopoulos
George Yancopoulos is a biomedical scientist who’s also the chief scientific officer, co-founder, and president of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. He received his medical degree from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons and later worked with Dr. Fred Alt in the field of molecular immunology.
He eventually left academia in 1989 to work at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals with Dr. Schleifer. Throughout his career, he has received more than 100 patents and has developed a number of FDA-authorized and -approved treatments. He’s also active in Regeneron’s STEM community and regularly participates in the Regeneron Science Talent Search.
According to Forbes Magazine, it’s his work with Regeneron that has turned him into a billionaire. He’s also noteworthy in that he’s the first research and development chief to become a billionaire in the pharmaceutical sector. He has also served on the boards of Columbia University’s Medical Center, the Board of Trustees for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and the Schleroderma Research Foundation, among others.
For his work, he has won numerous accolades including a Roy Vagelos Humanitarian Award, an Alexander Hamilton Award, and a NY Lifetime Achievement Award.
1. Patrick Soon Shiong
Patrick Soon-Shiong is often considered the greatest physician in the world. Born in South Africa to Chinese immigrant parents, he received his medical degree from the University of Witwatersrand and later completed his internship at Johannesburgh’s General Hospital. He later moved to the US and underwent surgical training at UCLA.
He is perhaps best known as the inventor of Abraxane, a drug that’s used to treat pancreatic, breast, and lung cancer. He’s also the founder of the multinational conglomerate holding company Nantworks, which owns many tech companies in the commerce, healthcare, and digital entertainment fields, and is an adjunct professor of surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles. Throughout his professional career, he has published over 100 scientific papers and has received more than 230 patents.
He’s also the chairman of three nonprofits- the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Advanced Health, the Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation, and the Healthcare Transformation Institute, which is a partnership with Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.
Since 2018, he has also been the owner of The San Diego Union-Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. In addition to that, he’s been a minority owner of the LA Lakers since 2010. He has also invested in several companies over the years including Zoom, Sienza, and NantRenwables.
