RFK Jr.’s Most Surprising Ally is the LA Times Owner. Here’s Why.
One of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s most devoted cheerleaders, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, may have an ulterior motive for supporting the vaccine skeptic’s nomination to head the Department of Health and Human Services, according to a new report from The American Prospect.
Soon-Shiong has seemingly gone out of his way to boost Kennedy’s bid to head the U.S. health agencies.
In December, Soon-Shiong reportedly blocked the publication of an op-ed criticizing Trump’s Cabinet choices, including Kennedy, TAP reported.
Last week, LA Times contributor Eric Reinhert accused the legacy newspaper of making significant edits to a piece of his that was largely critical of Kennedy, recasting his warning about Trump’s pick to head HHS with a more optimistic tone. The edited version suggested that the virulent anti-vaccine advocate could help assuage the American public’s poor opinion of the health care industry. The New Republic published the original version of Reinhert’s piece here.
When Kennedy’s nomination was narrowly advanced on Tuesday, Soon-Shiong posted on X to cheer him on. “Yay!!!! The transformation of healthcare begins,” he wrote.
But it looks like the billionaire scientist’s support is ultimately self-serving. As Kennedy’s confirmation advances, ImmunityBio, Soon-Shiong’s biotech firm, has three pending drug applications in front of the Food and Drug Administration.
Soon-Shiong founded ImmunityBio in 2014, just four years before he bought the LA Times. The firm’s first commercial drug, Anktiva, which treats a form of bladder cancer, hit the market last April after it was initially rejected the year before. The snafu led Soon-Shiong to infuse an additional $400 million into the company to keep things moving, according to the LA Business Journal.
By ensuring his new buddy secures the position overseeing the FDA, Soon-Shiong can possibly avoid hitting the same expensive snag a second, third, and fourth time.
Soon-Shiong is listed as ImmunityBio’s executive chairman and global chief medical and scientific officer, and in December, his ownership share of the company was around 80 percent.
