Henry Wellcome

Wellcome, co-founder of the drug company Burroughs Wellcome, left the entire share capital to trustees in his will on his death in 1936, with the profits to fund medical research. The Wellcome Trust sold its stake in the company in stages from 1986, and the business became part of Glaxo. That sale turned the trust into one of the world's largest research funders with a diversified endowment rather than a company owner.