Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation

Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation

The Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation was formed in 2008 in Los Angeles by surgeon, entrepreneur, and inventor Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong and his wife, actress and philanthropist Michele Chan. The foundation's capital originates from Soon-Shiong's career developing and commercializing novel drug-delivery technologies; he invented the nanoparticle albumin-bound chemotherapy agent Abraxane and built two pharmaceutical firms, APP Pharmaceuticals and Abraxis BioScience, which he sold for a combined total exceeding $9 billion. A portion of the proceeds endows the foundation. Grant-making focuses on two pillars where the founders see structural failure: access to medical research and equitable education. In healthcare, the foundation has funded the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute of Molecular Medicine and, alongside Vitalik Buterin, the Long Covid Research Initiative (LCRI) to accelerate clinical trial pathways. In education, it supports programs that widen STEM participation among under-resourced communities. The foundation does not operate as a traditional venture-philanthropy vehicle — it makes grants to vetted 501(c)(3) organizations rather than taking equity stakes in for-profit ventures. The foundation's governance sits with Soon-Shiong as Chairman and President and Chan as CFO and Secretary. While the foundation does not disclose its total assets or annual deployment, the principals are signatories to the Giving Pledge, binding them to donate the majority of their wealth during their lifetimes or in their estates. Patrick Soon-Shiong also co-chairs the Bipartisan Policy Center's CEO Council for Health and Innovation and sits on the Berggruen Institute's 21st Century Council, reflecting a policy-engagement posture that complements the foundation's grant-making. The foundation is an asset owner, not an operating charity: it disburses grants but does not run clinics or schools. Its structural differentiator is the direct link between Soon-Shiong's continued commercial life-science activity — he also owns the Los Angeles Times — and the foundation's philanthropic capital, creating a pipeline where proprietary medical research and media influence sit adjacent to the grant-making entity, potentially shaping both the flow of funding and the public narrative around the issues it targets.