New York (CNN Business)Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times, is urging America to admit it has a racism problem. "This unconscious bias and racism is pervasive. It's almost inherent, sadly, in the historic fabric of this country," Soon-Shiong, the founder and executive chairman of biotech company ImmunityBio, told CNN Business in his first public comments about the surge of anti-Asian hostilities. "We have to recognize that, accept it and then break it." Soon-Shiong, who is of Chinese descent and was born in South Africa, expressed dismay at the recent spike in hate crimes against Asian Americans as well as the racial tensions that fueled the Black Lives Matter movement.
This country better wake up to this because it becomes something that this next generation will deal with."
PATRICK SOON-SHIONG, EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN OF IMMUNITYBIO
"I came from South Africa, where I saw [racism] growing up. The difference, in a funny way, is that it was Apartheid, but it was Apartheid in the open," said Soon-Shiong, who moved to the United States in 1977. "I thought we were coming to the land of the free. And frankly, I've been completely disenchanted."
The comments make Soon-Shiong one of the highest-profile Asian business leaders to speak out about the recent attacks on Asian Americans. And he urged more Asian Americans to do the same. "Unfortunately, the Asian culture and mentality is to just suck it up. Do your work. Do your thing. Be quiet," Soon-Shiong said. "I don't think that can happen any longer." 'Lack of empathy' Soon-Shiong, who graduated from medical school at the age of 23 and whose wealth Forbes pegs at $7.5 billion, made his fortune in part by inventing the blockbuster cancer drug Abraxane. He later bought a stake in the Los Angeles Lakers from Magic Johnson, and then acquired the LA Times and San Diego Union-Tribune for $500 million in 2018. 系统提示：若遇到视频无法播放请点击下方链接 https://www.youtube.com/embed/https://www.myfinance.com/r/7fb4564b-4a07-4f09-9467-e3ef2d6a9ed5 Long before he became one of the wealthiest doctors on the planet and the "Barnum of biotech," as[/iframe] Earlier this week, a 65-year-old Asian woman was attacked in broad daylight in Midtown Manhattan in what police are calling a hate crime: "F**k you, you don't belong here, you Asian," the assailant said prior to the attack, according to the criminal complaint. "The lack of empathy for the human being, whether she's Asian, green, black, blue — that's a human being, a 65-year-old-lady in severe distress," Soon-Shiong said, adding that he found it "heartbreaking" that bystanders did not intervene. "This country better wake up to this, because it becomes something that this next generation will deal with," he said. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the doctor-turned-entrepreneur, made his fortune in part by inventing blockbuster cancer drug Abraxane. He later bought a stake in the Los Angeles Lakers and acquired the LA Times.
''I''ve been completely disenchanted.'' Billionaire speaks out after attacks on Asian Americans
系统提示：若遇到视频无法播放请点击下方链接
https://www.youtube.com/embed/https://www.myfinance.com/r/7fb4564b-4a07-4f09-9467-e3ef2d6a9ed5 Long before he became one of the wealthiest doctors on the planet and the "Barnum of biotech," as[/iframe]
Earlier this week, a 65-year-old Asian woman was attacked in broad daylight in Midtown Manhattan in what police are calling a hate crime: "F**k you, you don't belong here, you Asian," the assailant said prior to the attack, according to the criminal complaint. "The lack of empathy for the human being, whether she's Asian, green, black, blue — that's a human being, a 65-year-old-lady in severe distress," Soon-Shiong said, adding that he found it "heartbreaking" that bystanders did not intervene. "This country better wake up to this, because it becomes something that this next generation will deal with," he said.