Five years ago, the U.S. women’s national team were being feted in Washington, D.C., one of several celebratory events to commemorate their fourth Women’s World Cup title. The trophy offered a fresh reminder that they are one of most established teams in the broader sports landscape – they remained the gold standard in women’s soccer, as well as one of the most dominant teams in American sports. In attendance that day was the equally impressive, if lesser-known, Cognosante founder and CEO Michele Kang.
An immigrant from South Korea who moved to the U.S. as a student, she achieved one particular version of the varied American dream – joining the nation’s billionaire class. In a nation that Forbes reports has a record 813 billionaires, one can get away with building a successful medtech company but otherwise keeping a low profile. One of the things that deep pockets can afford you, though, is the opportunity to change your professional interests in short order.
“Other than [a] brief stint in the elementary school days, I was not really aware,” she said at a press conference in New York on Tuesday. “I was not really a fan, but once I got exposed to women’s soccer right after the 2019 World Cup, when the…