How Iranian Immigrant Maky Zanganeh Is Now a Self-Made Billionaire in the US

Maky Zanganeh, co-CEO of Summit Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical oncology company, is now a billionaire. The rise of Ms. Zanganeh, an Iranian immigrant, came after shares of Summit Therapeutics, under her leadership, soared 17-fold, bringing its market value to $17 billion, according to Forbes.

The 54-year-old owns just under 5 percent of the company’s stock, along with stock options. She is now worth an estimated $1.1 billion, one of only 34 self-made female billionaires in the U.S. and one of only three in the health care sector.

The 21-year-old company, with no approved drugs and just 130 employees, has recently attracted investor attention for its experimental lung cancer drug, ivonescimab. Data presented at the World Conference on Lung Cancer in San Diego showed the drug outperforming Merck’s blockbuster Keytruda, sparking huge investor interest. “The big news was that we were able to beat Keytruda,” Ms. Zanganeh said, according to Forbes.

Summit’s stock price nearly doubled after the announcement, peaking at $31.93 on September 13. By September 19, the price had fallen to $23.16.

Ms. Zangesh was born in Tehran, Iran, to architect parents. Her life changed forever when the Shah of Iran was overthrown in 1979. The ensuing Iran-Iraq War added to the uncertainty. “We had to constantly face the fear of bombing,” she said in her 2021 memoir, “The Magic of Normal.” When Ms. Zanganeh was about 11, a friend of her father’s in Germany arranged for her family to obtain German visas.

After many cancelled flights due to the closure of Tehran’s airport, they eventually fled to Germany via Austria. She settled in Oldenburg, a small town in northern Germany, and learned German while her parents returned to Iran. Ms. Zanganeh stayed behind, living with a friend and later an uncle, to finish high school.

Ms. Zanganeh’s father, who had seen both her sisters in medical school in Strasbourg, France, encouraged her to do the same. A French major, she studied dentistry at the University of Strasbourg, specializing in pediatric dentistry, graduating in 1995. However, she remained uncertain about a career in dentistry. In 1997, through an Iranian friend who worked for the American robotic surgery company Computer Motion, Ms. Zanganeh became intrigued by the industry and took on the role of the company’s European coordinator, while also earning an MBA from Schiller International University.

She quickly rose through the ranks to become Computer Motion’s head of Europe and the Middle East, and later the company’s worldwide vice president of training and education, which took her to Santa Barbara, California. When Intuitive Surgical acquired Computer Motion in 2003, Ms. Zanganeh left the company to pursue new opportunities.

Ms. Zanganeh found her true calling in biotechnology, eventually teaming up with fellow billionaire Robert Duggan to lead Summit Therapeutics.

Together, Mr. Duggan and Ms. Zanganeh are betting big on ivonescimab. Summit licensed the drug from Hong Kong-listed Akeso in 2022 for $500 million up front, with the possibility of another $4.5 billion in milestone payments.

Ms. Zanganeh, who was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2020 and has since made a full recovery, joined Summit’s board later that year and was named co-CEO in September 2022, just months before closing the deal with Akeso.

The success of Ivonescimab is still in its infancy; there are currently 20 clinical trials underway in China.