Michael Jaharis

Michael Jaharis (July 16, 1928 – February 17, 2016) was an American lawyer, businessman and philanthropist. He was the founder of Kos Pharmaceuticals and Vatera Healthcare Partners LLC, and co-founder of Arisaph Pharmaceuticals.

Biography Jaharis was born in Evanston, Illinois on July 16, 1928. He graduated from Carroll University and received a J.D. from DePaul University College of Law. Under his leadership, the company developed sustained-release Theo-Dur (theophylline), which became the nation's best-selling asthma remedy at the time, and cardiovascular drug Nitro-Dur. Key Pharmaceuticals was sold to Schering-Plough Corporation in 1986. Kos Pharmaceuticals was sold to Abbott Labs in 2006 for $4.2 billion.

He has made charitable contributions to the DePaul University College of Law, Columbia University Medical Center, Carroll University, the Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University, the Tufts University School of Medicine, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Metropolitan Opera. In 2013, the Foundation pledged $2 million to help relieve hunger and poverty in Greece during the country's fiscal crisis.

As of March 2015, he was the 847th richest person in the world, and the 297th richest in the United States, with an estimated wealth of US $2.2 billion.