Gary K. Michelson (born January 14, 1949) is an American board certified orthopedic spinal surgeon, inventor, and philanthropist.
Early life and education
One of four boys, Michelson was raised by his mother and grandmother. Witnessing the effects of his grandmother’s spinal deformity as a boy motivated him to pursue medicine as a career, with a specialty in spine problems. He attended Central High School of Philadelphia, Temple University and Hahnemann Medical College. He completed his medical residency in orthopedic surgery at Hahnemann Medical Hospital, before completing fellowship training in spinal surgery at St. Luke’s Medical Center in a joint program between Baylor University and the University of Texas. He was a practicing spinal surgeon for over 25 years before retiring from private practice to focus on philanthropy. He amassed over 100 research papers and publications to his credit.
He is of Jewish heritage.
Medical innovations
Unhappy with the low success rates associated with spinal surgery procedures at the beginning of his career, he developed new technology in response, creating implants, instruments and procedures that would enable spinal surgeons to manage more spinal ailments. Implanted globally in millions of patients, “Michelson Devices” have made spinal surgery far more effective and reliable while decreasing the blood loss, incision size, risks and complications, hospital stay and overall costs compared to earlier procedures. He has over 340 U.S. Patents on instruments, methods and devices for advances in spinal and orthopedic surgery and over 950 issued or pending patents worldwide for instruments, operative procedures, and medical devices related to the treatment of spinal disorders.
In 2005, Michelson sold many of his spine related patents to Medtronic for over $1 billion, placing him on the Forbes 400 list where he has since remained. A legal battle with Medtronic over the origins of the patents preceded the sale. Michelson successfully cross-filed in response to Medtronic’s suit against him. His defense against Medtronic’s suit established a major legal precedent in 2004, governing who bears the cost of pre-trial discovery of electronic evidence.
| Gary K. Michelson | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 14, 1949 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Residence | Los Angeles, CA |
| Nationality | United States |
| Alma mater | B.A. Temple University M.D. Hahnemann Medical College |
| Occupation | Medical device inventor / Philanthropist / Board Certified Spinal Surgeon |
| Net worth |  US $ 1.6 billion (April 2016) |
| Spouse(s) | Alya Michelson |
| Children | 3 |
Dr. Gary K. Michelson Net Worth: Dr. Gary K. Michelson is an American orthopedic spinal surgeon and inventor who has a net worth of $1.5 billion. He was born to a Jewish family on 14 January 1949 in Philadelphia. A witness to his grandmother’s crippling spinal deformity, he was still young when he decided to dedicate his life to helping those afflicted with spinal ailments. Dr. Michelson completed his high school at Central High School of Philadelphia and moved to the Temple University and Hahnemann Medical College to complete his medical studies. He has been actively working in this field for more than 25 years and published various publications and research papers. Dr Michelson invented several operative methods, surgical instruments and medical implants. He put an end to respective spinal surgery procedures and developed new standards, procedures and instruments that would help any spinal surgeons to treat spinal disorders. He earns the credits for over 250 US patents on devices, methods and instruments for advances in orthopedic and spinal surgery. Furthermore, he is waiting to get patents for more than 950 medical devices and operative procedures. In 2005, Dr Gary Michelson decided to sell some of his patents to a medical technology company Medtronic at a price of about $1 billion. After that deal, he was listed as one of the richest Americans in the world. After getting retired from his private practice, he founded several foundations and charitable organizations. This includes the Twenty Million Minds Foundation, Medical research center, the Michelson Medical Research Foundation, the Medical Research Foundation and more. Dr. Gary Michelson won several awards and honors during this period. He got the Paralyzed Veterans of America Award considering his outstanding performance in the field of spinal ailments.
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