Meet the world’s 3 richest lecturers - from UCLA, Stanford, and top Chinese university

Fan Daidi, $4.2 billion

Fan Daidi, 59, in April was appointed vice-president of Northwest University in China’s Shaanxi province, where she oversees international cooperation.

Chemistry professor Fan Daidi in a photo posted on the website of asset management firm Gemway Assets.

She is believed to have the highest net worth among university executives nationwide, according to South China Morning Post.

Daidi, together with her husband Yan Jianya, co-established Giant Biogene Holding, where she holds the position of chief science officer.

The company, which specializes in collagen and other skincare products, was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2022, according to Forbes.

Additionally, Fan serves as the dean of the Institute of Biomedical Research at Northwest University in Xi'an, China.

She was a senior visiting scholar at the National Center for Biological Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 1999 to 2000.

Fan also owns a stake in Beauty Farm Medical and Health Industry, a beauty services provider that went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2023.

She now ranks as the 923rd richest person globally on Forbes billionaire list.

David Cheriton, $15.4 billion

David Cheriton, a professor emeritus at Stanford University, amassed his wealth through an early investment in Google, according to Bloomberg.

David Cheriton. Photo by Jonathan Sprague via Stanford University

Alongside Andreas von Bechtolsheim, who is also now a billionaire, Cheriton invested $100,000 in Google during its nascent stages.

Together, they co-founded three companies: Arista Networks, which went public in 2014; Granite Systems, acquired by Cisco in 1996; and Kealia, sold to Sun Microsystems in 2004.

Cheriton stepped down from Arista's board in 2014. Following the acquisition of his company Apstra by Juniper Networks in 2021, Cheriton took on the role of chief data center scientist at Juniper Networks.

He is now the 162nd richest person in the world.

Henry Samueli, $26.8 billion

Henry Samueli, 70, is a professor at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) who is also the cofounder and chairman of semiconductor company Broadcom.

Henry Samueli. Photo by University of California, Los Angeles

He launched the firm alongside fellow billionaire Henry Nicholas in 1991 from a condominium in Redondo Beach, California.

In 2016, Singapore-based chip company Avago acquired Broadcom for $37 billion in cash and stock, according to Bloomberg.

In 2005, Samueli and his wife purchased the Anaheim Ducks hockey team for $70 million; its current value is $675 million.

In 2017, the Samuelis made a $200 million donation to the University of California, Irvine, marking the largest gift in the institution’s history.

As a professor at UCLA, he would inspire his students to greater heights by sharing his unique worldview, the school said on its website.

"Being an engineer is very meaningful ... making people’s lives better (by) applying math and science."

Samueli is now ranks 74th globally in wealth.