Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, a billionaire who earned his fortune in the biotech field, will officially take full control of the Los Angeles Times and San Diego Union-Tribune on Monday when the $500 million sale is completed and Soon-Shiong becomes executive chairman of the California News Group.

The deal, which was reported in February, will return the two historic publications back to local ownership after what the Times itself described on Saturday as “18 turbulent years under Chicago control” (i.e. the Chicago-based Tribune Media Company). Soon-Shiong also owns a 4.5% stake in the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team. He also reportedly has a passion for seeing medical advancements, particularly in the area of cancer. Soon-Shiong, 65, was born in South Africa and educated at the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School, at the time one of the finest medical schools in the world. He reportedly amassed his $7.5 billion fortune by building and then selling two biopharmaceutical companies, and has since then “been on a mission to personalize cancer treatment and develop vaccinations for deadly diseases.” (Read more)

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