MannKind Corp. (MNKD)

[COO2002COO]

Alfred Mann, founder and CEO of MNKD, has the following achievements:

1) His companies had created a rechargeable pacemaker; an implant that enables deaf people to hear;
2) a prosthetic retina that helps blind people see;
3) an insulin pump that transformed the treatment of diabetes;
4) a device that enables amputees to control prosthetic fingers with their brains.

His business successes are of no scam:

1) In 1960 he sold his companies Spectrolab Inc. and Heliotek Corp. for $10 million;
2) In 1985 he sold pacesetter to Siemens for about $150 million;
3) In 2001, he sold MiniMed to Medtronic Inc. (that developed a small insulin pump that automatically delivers insulin throughout the day) for more than $3 billion;
4) In 2004, he sold Advanced Bionics (that manufactured cochlear implants to help deaf people hear) to Boston Scientific Corp. for $740 million;

MannKind has spent about $1.8 billion developing Afrezza, with nearly $1 billion of that coming from Al Mann's personal wealth.

You can call this guy or the company he runs whatever you want, but I respect him and appreciate what he has developed and done for diabetics, the deaf, and all those patients in medical needs.