Wellcome sees shares plunge
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.THE COLLAPSE in Wellcome shares yesterday was bad news for the Wellcome Trust, the charity which owns more than 40 per cent of the company, slashing pounds 200m from the value of its pounds 2.4bn holding, writes Gail Counsell.
The trust was set up in 1936 under the will of Sir Henry Wellcome, an American entrepreneur, collector and medical scientist.
He had arrived in this country in 1880 and, with a fellow American, Silas Burroughs, founded the company which was then called Burroughs Wellcome. On Silas Burroughs's death, Henry Wellcome became sole owner of the company, took out British citizenship and received a knighthood.
After he died, all the shares in the company, renamed the Wellcome Foundation, passed to the trust. The largest non-governmental source of funds for medical research in the United Kingdom, the trust uses its income of about pounds 220m a year to support numerous worthy endeavours.
It has a relatively narrow focus, concentrating on high-quality medical research projects which often have little direct commercial application. But at Sir Henry's specific request, it also favours issues dealing with the history of medicine.
In the 1980s, the trustees of the charity became increasingly worried that all the trust's investments were concentrated in one basket. As a result, they floated the company, now known as Wellcome, on the stock market in February 1986.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments