Li Ge

Early Life and Education

Li Ge was born in Beijing, China. He graduated from the Affiliated High School of Peking University. He received a B.A. from Peking University in 1989 and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Columbia University in 1994.

Rise to Success

In 2000, Li co-founded WuXi AppTec in Shanghai with his wife, Ning Zhao. Under Li's leadership, the company grew from a small start-up to a global enterprise, and it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange before being listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2018. In 2011, Li was selected a member of the Committee of One Hundred.

Key Business Strategies

Li pioneered an integrated R&D service model and the open-access R&D enabling platform model. His company, WuXi AppTec, provides comprehensive research, development, and manufacturing services in small molecule drugs, cell and gene therapies, and emerging new modalities.

Philanthropy

Li and his late wife, Ning Zhao, established the Li Ge-Zhao Ning Education Fund at Peking University. They donated $21.5 million to Columbia University to support research and chemistry teaching in 2020, and contributed $20 million to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's research on lung cancer in 2021. In 2024, the Ge Li & Ning Zhao Family Foundation gave a $10 million gift to establish the Ning Zhao & Ge Li Family Initiative in Nursing at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.