Stéphane Bancel (born July 20, 1972) is a French business executive. He is the chief executive officer (CEO) of the American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Moderna, known for its COVID-19 vaccine. Before joining Moderna, Bancel was the CEO of French diagnostics company BioMérieux. Bancel is a partner at Flagship Pioneering, and has served on the boards of Indigo Agriculture, Boston’s Museum of Science, and Qiagen. As of May 2023, his net worth was estimated at US$4.1 billion, owning about 8% of Moderna.
What is Stéphane Bancel’s Net Worth and Salary?
Stéphane Bancel is a French billionaire businessman who has a net worth of $6 billion. Stéphane Bancel best known as the CEO of the biotechnology and pharmaceutical company Moderna. Focusing on mRNA vaccines, the company released its first commercial product, the COVID-19 vaccine, in 2020. Prior to joining Moderna, Bancel was the CEO of the multinational biotechnology company bioMérieux.
Stock Holdings
Moderna went public in 2018 with the largest biotech IPO of all time, raising $604 million.
Today Bancel directly owns a little over 5% of Moderna. He also has the ability to own another, roughly 5%, through stock options based on performance goals.
Early life
Bancel was born in Marseille, France. His father and mother were an engineer and doctor, respectively. He enjoyed computers, math, and science during his childhood.
Bancel studied engineering at CentraleSupélec (former École Centrale Paris) and biological engineering at the University of Minnesota, earning master’s degrees at both institutions. He went on to earn an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Career
Bancel was a sales director at Eli Lilly and Company, eventually becoming head of operations for Belgium. In 2007, he became CEO of French diagnostics company BioMérieux, and was credited with improving the company’s margins.
In 2011, Bancel joined Moderna as the CEO. Stat reported that Bancel led a highly secretive culture with little outside review of its science or research.
Moderna Background
In 2011, Bancel became the CEO of the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotechnology and pharmaceutical company Moderna, which had been founded the previous year. The company raised $40 million by the end of 2012, and reached unicorn valuation. In early 2013, Moderna signed a five-year option agreement with biotechnology and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to develop mRNA treatments in a number of therapeutic medical areas. Later in the year, Moderna received $25 million from DARPA to develop messenger RNA therapeutics. The company continued to test mRNA technology over the subsequent years, and in 2018 opened a 200,000-square-foot facility in Norwood, Massachusetts for the purposes of clinical and preclinical work as well as manufacturing. At the end of 2018, Moderna made the largest initial public offering in the history of biotech, ultimately raising $621 million. In addition to serving as the CEO, Bancel owns around 9% stake in Moderna.
Personal life
Bancel has two children. In April 2020, with the Moderna share price rising on news of imminent phase 2 human trials for its potential COVID-19 vaccine, Bancel’s stake of about 9% became worth over $1 billion. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.
Other Business Endeavors
In his other business ventures, Bancel is a partner at Flagship Pioneering, a life-sciences venture capital firm based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that both invests in and incubates companies. Moderna is among its portfolio companies, as is Novomer and Indigo Agriculture. Meanwhile, Bancel has served on the boards of Indigo Agriculture, the Museum of Science in Boston, and the German diagnostics and research company QIAGEN.
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