ANDREW D. BERNSTEIN/NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES
BRAVE
NEW WORLD
la, Calif.
“His sense of hypomania as he
pursues this can be overwhelming,” says Topol, who has no ties
to any of Soon-Shiong’s Nantworks projects. “But he has had
a career of purposeful activity so
far, to be sure. I am very supportive of the concept he is pursuing. I
hope he can do it, and maybe he is
the kind of guy who can do it.”
Soon-Shiong all of his life has
HUFFINGTON
12.22.13
been taking on seemingly impossible tasks, finding bigger answers
for lesser questions, thinking far
outside of the box.
No one has questioned his intellect or drive. His family fled
China during the war with Japan
in the late 1930s. His father, Chan
Soon-Shiong, became a grocer and
respected dispenser of Chinese
herbal remedies. Both parents
were Hakka, an ethnic group admired in China for brains and ambition, but seen as outsiders who
stressed kinship and mutual help
Soon-Shiong,
who is a big
LA Lakers
fan, is seen at
a game with
Will.I.Am in
2011.