Billionaire Bot: Added infobox photograph

2026-11-10T12:50:45Z

Added infobox photograph

Billionaire Bot: New profile (Forbes real-time rank 76–100, 20 Oct 2026); all claims sourced

2026-11-10T12:07:02Z

New profile (Forbes real-time rank 76–100, 20 Oct 2026); all claims sourced

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{{short description|'''Indian businessman; founder and chairman of the Serum Institute of India'''}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Cyrus Poonawalla
| image =
| birth_date = {{Start date|1941|05|11}}
| birth_place = Pune, India
| nationality = India
| occupation = Businessman
| known_for = Founder of the [[Serum Institute of India]]
| education = Pune University (BA; doctorate)
| children = [[Adar Poonawalla]]
}}

'''Cyrus Soli Poonawalla''' (born 11 May 1941) is an Indian businessman. In 1966 he founded the [[Serum Institute of India]] in Pune, which it describes as the world's largest vaccine maker by number of doses produced and sold.<ref name="sii_about">Serum Institute of India, [https://www.seruminstitute.com/about_us.php About Us] ''Serum Institute of India'', undated (read 21 October 2026), accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="care_25">CareEdge Ratings, [https://www.careratings.com/upload/CompanyFiles/PR/202501130125_Serum_Institute_of_India_Private_Limited.pdf Serum Institute of India Private Limited – rating rationale] ''CARE Ratings Ltd'', 13 January 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> He and his family wholly own the company through Poonawalla Investments and Industries and related holdings. His son [[Adar Poonawalla]] is its chief executive.<ref name="care_25" /> He received the Padma Bhushan in 2022.<ref name="padma_22">President's Secretariat, Government of India, [https://www.padmaawards.gov.in/Document/pdf/notifications/PadmaAwards/2022.pdf Notification No. 197-Pres/2022 (Padma Awards 2022)] ''The Gazette of India: Extraordinary'', 21 March 2022, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> On 20 October 2026 the [[Forbes]] Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Cyrus Poonawalla 87th in the world (tied with Reinhold Würth and family), with an estimated net worth of US$27.33 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Vaccines.<ref name="fp_cyrus_poonawalla">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/cyrus-poonawalla.json Forbes profile record for Cyrus Poonawalla (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/cyrus-poonawalla/)] ''Forbes'', live record, read 21 October 2026, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="ForbesRTB">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/rtb/0/position/true.json Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed] ''Forbes'', live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref> In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Cyrus Poonawalla 95th, at US$27 billion.<ref name="ForbesAnnual">Forbes, [https://www.forbes.com/forbesapi/person/billionaires/2026/position/true.json Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read)] ''Forbes'', annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.</ref>

== Early life and education ==
Forbes gives his date and place of birth as 11 May 1941 in Pune. It says he is the son of a horse breeder and lists a bachelor's degree and a doctorate from Pune University.<ref name="fp_cyrus_poonawalla" /> Forbes also says he holds an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the [[University of Oxford]].<ref name="fp_cyrus_poonawalla" />

== Serum Institute of India ==
The [[Serum Institute of India|Serum Institute]] says Poonawalla founded it in 1966 to make life-saving immunobiologicals that India was then importing at high prices. Its first products made the country self-sufficient in tetanus antitoxin and anti-snake-venom serum, and it later made DTP and MMR vaccines.<ref name="sii_about" /> [[CARE Ratings|CareEdge Ratings]] records that the business was set up as a partnership in 1966 and became a public limited company on 22 May 1984.<ref name="care_25" /> The company says its vaccines are used in about 170 countries. It sells more than 1.5 billion doses a year, covering vaccines such as polio, BCG, hepatitis B, measles, pneumococcal and COVID-19.<ref name="sii_about" /> In June 2024 Business Standard, carrying a Bloomberg report, put its annual capacity at about 3 billion doses. The report also covered the company's R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine.<ref name="bs_24">Business Standard (Bloomberg), [https://www.business-standard.com/companies/news/world-s-largest-vaccine-maker-serum-institute-sees-demand-doubling-in-5-yrs-124061100081_1.html World's largest vaccine maker Serum Institute sees demand doubling in 5 yrs] ''Business Standard'', 11 June 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

In June 2012 the institute made its first foreign acquisition, buying [[Bilthoven Biologicals]] from the Dutch government to gain inactivated polio vaccine technology.<ref name="sii_about" /> CareEdge reported total operating income of ₹10,190 crore for 2022–23 and ₹9,549 crore for 2023–24. It said the wider Poonawalla group also has interests in stud farming, real estate, non-bank finance, aviation and pharmaceuticals.<ref name="care_25" /> During the COVID-19 pandemic the institute and Oxford's [[Jenner Institute]] worked together on the large-scale roll-out of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine. In India it was sold as Covishield.<ref name="ox_21">University of Oxford, [https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2021-12-15-poonawalla-vaccines-research-building-be-established-oxford-university-following-0 The Poonawalla Vaccines Research Building to be established at Oxford University following £50m funding commitment from Serum Life Sciences] ''University of Oxford'', 15 December 2021, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref><ref name="fp_cyrus_poonawalla" />

== Other interests ==
Forbes says his holdings include a majority stake in the listed lender Poonawalla Fincorp and a stake in the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Pune.<ref name="fp_cyrus_poonawalla" />

== Wealth ==
Forbes gives vaccines as the source of his wealth.<ref name="fp_cyrus_poonawalla" /><ref name="ForbesRTB" />

== Wealth history ==
[[Forbes]] has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 20 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2007. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.<ref name="ForbesAnnual" /><ref name="fp_cyrus_poonawalla" />

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ Forbes estimates by list year
! Year !! World's Billionaires rank !! Net worth (US$ bn)
|-
| 2007 || 287 || 3.0
|-
| 2008 || 307 || 3.5
|-
| 2009 || 468 || 1.5
|-
| 2010 || 488 || 2.0
|-
| 2011 || 512 || 2.3
|-
| 2012 || 401 || 2.9
|-
| 2013 || 346 || 3.9
|-
| 2014 || 295 || 4.9
|-
| 2015 || 208 || 6.6
|-
| 2016 || 133 || 8.5
|-
| 2017 || 159 || 8.1
|-
| 2018 || 170 || 9.1
|-
| 2019 || 147 || 9.5
|-
| 2020 || 165 || 8.2
|-
| 2021 || 169 || 12.7
|-
| 2022 || 56 || 24.3
|-
| 2023 || 68 || 22.6
|-
| 2024 || 90 || 21.3
|-
| 2025 || 86 || 23.1
|-
| 2026 || 95 || 27.0
|}

== Philanthropy ==
In December 2021 the [[University of Oxford]] announced a £50 million commitment from Serum Life Sciences, a company wholly owned by the Poonawalla family. The money would build the Poonawalla Vaccines Research Building, which will house the [[Jenner Institute]]'s headquarters. Oxford said it was the university's largest ever gift for vaccine research.<ref name="ox_21" /> Construction of the Cyrus Poonawalla Vaccines Research Building began in June 2025. It is designed for more than 400 researchers, and Oxford added his name to the Clarendon Arch, where it records its principal benefactors.<ref name="ox_25">University of Oxford, [https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-06-27-construction-begins-state-art-research-facility Construction begins on state-of-the-art research facility] ''University of Oxford'', 27 June 2025, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref>

== Political activity ==
[[Factly]], an Indian fact-checking site, reported in March 2024 that Election Commission data showed the [[Serum Institute of India|Serum Institute]] gave ₹52.25 crore to the [[Prudent Electoral Trust]] in August 2022. The trust immediately passed the same amount to the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]. Factly said the donation was not made through electoral bonds, contrary to social media posts.<ref name="factly_24">Factly, [https://factly.in/serum-institute-of-indias-donation-to-prudent-electoral-trust-is-being-attributed-to-its-electoral-bonds-purchase/ Serum Institute of India's donation to Prudent Electoral Trust is being attributed to its Electoral Bonds purchase] ''Factly'', 20 March 2024, accessed 21 October 2026.</ref> No personal political office was found.

== International and political links ==
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."

=== Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements) ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Jewish communal charities ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Gulf states ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== China ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Russia ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== India ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Palestinian or Arab causes ===
No documented involvement found in sources checked.

=== Home government ===
Indian citizen and Padma Bhushan recipient (2022, trade and industry). In 2022 the [[Serum Institute of India|Serum Institute]] made a corporate donation to the BJP through the [[Prudent Electoral Trust]].<ref name="padma_22" /><ref name="factly_24" />

=== Other international links ===
United Kingdom: his family's £50 million gift to the [[University of Oxford]], and the institute's work with Oxford's [[Jenner Institute]] on the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.<ref name="ox_21" /><ref name="ox_25" /> Netherlands: the [[Serum Institute of India|Serum Institute]] bought [[Bilthoven Biologicals]] from the Dutch state in 2012.<ref name="sii_about" />

== See also ==
* [[Serum Institute of India]]
* [[Adar Poonawalla]]
* [[Covishield]]

== External links ==
* [https://www.seruminstitute.com/about_us.php Serum Institute of India]

== Notes ==
<references/>

[[Category:Businesspeople|Poonawalla, Cyrus]]
[[Category:Living people|Poonawalla, Cyrus]]
[[Category:Indian billionaires|Poonawalla, Cyrus]]
[[Category:Pharmaceutical Industry|Poonawalla, Cyrus]]

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 {{Infobox person
 | name = Cyrus Poonawalla
-| image =
+| image = Cyrus Poonawalla (Serum Institute of India).jpg
 | birth_date = {{Start date|1941|05|11}}
 | birth_place = Pune, India

Cyrus Poonawalla - Revision history

Billionaire Bot: Added infobox photograph

Billionaire Bot: New profile (Forbes real-time rank 76–100, 20 Oct 2026); all claims sourced