American businessman Randal Kirk has an estimated net worth of $4.3 billion as of April 2016, according to Forbes.

Randal J. Kirk was born on March 10, 1953 in Pleasanton, California. He attended Radford University where he completed his B.A. in Economics. Subsequently, he studied at the University of Virginia  where he completed his J.D. After passing the bar exam in 1980, he started working as an attorney in Bland County, Virginia.

He is known to be the founder of General Injectables and Vaccines (GIV) which he co-founded with John Gregory in 1983. Later on, King Pharmaceuticals was founded. When the duo split, Randal Kirk retained his control to GIV while John Gregory managed King. Eventually, Henry Schein, Inc. acquired GIV for $65 million.

Shortly, he founded New River Pharmaceuticals Inc. which turned public in 2004. The company specializes in turning existing drugs into safer and more abuse-resistant medications. In 2007, Shire plc acquired the company for $2.6 billion.

In 1999, he started the investment firm Third Security, LLC which was based in Radford. In 2004, NewVa Capital Partners was formed when Third Security, LLC combined with two other firms, Virginia Tech Foundation and Carilion Health System.

Randal J. Kirk has been one of the majority shareholder and chairman of Clinical Data, Inc. The company specializes in manufacturing antidepressant drugs but in 2011, it was acquired by Forest Laboratories Inc. for only $1.2 billion. He currently serves as the CEO of the privately held company, Intrexon Corporation.