Who is Ben Lamm? Net worth and all we know about Colossal biosciences founder amid dire wolf resurrection

Ben Lamm is the co-founder and chief executive of Colossal Biosciences, a biotech company that has been turning heads around the world with its ambitious mission to bring extinct species back to life.

Lamm partnered with the celebrated Harvard geneticist Dr. George Church and founded Colossal in 2021 to revive the woolly mammoth and, recently, to revive the dire wolf, a prehistoric predator made famous by the Game of Thrones series.

In the past, Ben Lamm has either founded or co-founded five companies, all of which were eventually sold to gain profit. His successful AI software company Hypergiant was also sold to Josh Kushner's Thrive Capital in 2023.

Colossal was recently valued at a staggering $10.2 billion after the company’s latest funding round of $200 million. It made Lamm’s personal net worth an estimated $3.7 billion, according to Forbes. Therefore, it is speculated that his fortune is largely tied to his stake in Colossal.

According to reports, with the new funding, the company has raised a collective of $435 million from major investors such as TWG Global, Breyer Capital, and Draper Associates.

Relating to a most recent breakthrough, Colossal announced the successful de-extinction of the dire wolf, an animal that went extinct nearly 10,000 years ago.

Through CRISPR gene editing, the company altered the genome of the gray wolf, the dire wolf’s nearest living relative, in order to recreate features of the extinct species. Three dire wolf pups, Romulus, Remus, and Khaleesi, were born with specially chosen white fur and are currently living inside a 2,000-acre preserve.

More about Ben Lamm’s goal and the controversy surrounding it

Colossal isn’t going to stop at dire wolves. Its initial and major goal includes attempts to resurrect the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo.

The company’s larger mission is more than just revival, as it hopes that these species can help replenish ecosystems, preserve biodiversity, and even fight climate change.

For example, it’s thought the woolly mammoth maintained permafrost and slowed global warming. Ben Lamm and his company view these projects as potential sources of biodiversity credits, tourism revenue, and even carbon credits.

"For us, it’s pretty cool because the pursuit of de-extinction creates technology that we can monetize and also licensable technology,” Ben Lamm said in a recent statement.

Though Ben Lamm’s work is groundbreaking, it has received a lot of backlash from other scientists and conservation activists. According to Forbes, critics, including University of Arizona professor Karl Flessa, have raised ethical concerns over releasing genetically modified species into the current ecosystem, especially in an era of rapid climate change.

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But in a world where habitats are changing faster than evolution can keep up, Colossal Biosciences’ Chief Science Officer Beth Shapiro argues that new technologies are needed.

"The problem we face is habitats around the planet are changing at a rate faster than evolution can keep up. It would not behoove us to say that it was too risky to allow ourselves to explore what these technologies can do," she said.

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