Eight individuals with ties to spine and orthopedics were named to Forbes' 38th annual World's Billionaires list.
Here's how eight spine and orthopedic billionaires made their money:
Ronda Stryker is a director of Stryker. The company was founded by her grandfather in 1941. She owns about 6% of Stryker, which she inherited from her parents.
John Brown ran Stryker for 32 years before retiring as chair in 2009. He owns about 5% of the company and is chair emeritus of the board.
In 1981, Reinhold Schmieding started Arthrex, an orthopedic surgical tools company. He owns more than 90% of the company.
Jon Stryker's grandfather founded Stryker, and he inherited a stake in the company but does not work there. He is president and founder of the Arcus Foundation, a charity.
Pat Stryker's grandfather founded Stryker. She is a philanthropist and the founder of the Bohemian Foundation.
Amy Wyss worked at medical equipment firm Synthes, which was founded by her father, for several years. When the company was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2012 for $19.7 billion, she received a portion of the proceeds from the sale. Ms. Wyss also founded the LOR Foundation in 2007.
Dr. Gary Michelson is a retired orthopedic and spine surgeon. He holds about 340 U.S. patents for orthopedic and spinal surgery instruments. In 2005, he reached a $1.35 billion settlement with Medtronic.
David Paul founded Globus Medical, where he also serves as executive chair. Before starting Globus Medical, he worked as an engineer for Synthes.