Sam Isaly

Sam Isaly had a sister, Jo Ellen, who predeceased him, and has a brother, Forest. Sam grew up in Boardman, Ohio where he attended Market Street Elementary School and Boardman Glenwood Junior High School.

After high school, Sam attended Princeton University from 1964-1967 where he earned an A.B. in Economics and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. In 1967, he was awarded the Percy Allan Ransome Sr. Prize in Economics and was a recipient of the Lieutenant John A. Larkin Jr. Memorial Scholarship.
He was a Fulbright Scholar (1967-1968) and attended The London School of Economics where he earned a MSc. in Economics.

He also worked for Merrill Lynch, Legg Mason and S. G. Warburg & Co.

While at S. G. Warburg & Co., Sam met Viren Mehta. In 1989, the two formed Mehta and Isaly, a New York-based investment research firm, specializing in healthcare research, portfolio management and corporate consulting. Sam reconfigured the firm on January 1, 1998. At that time, Mehta and Isaly had approximately 50 research clients, and AUM of approximately $600 million.

In 1993, Mehta and Isaly made its first venture capital investment in Cambridge Antibody Technology, based in Cambridge, U.K. In 2000, OrbiMed launched its first fully dedicated venture capital fund and in 2011, launched its first fully dedicated royalty/credit fund. During Sam’s tenure at OrbiMed, OrbiMed’s AUM grew from $600 million at inception to more than $15 billion and had three long/short funds, seven venture capital funds and two royalty/credit funds with over 100 employees and offices in four countries. Sam is now Chairman Emeritus of OrbiMed Advisors LLC.

During his time at Mehta and Isaly and OrbiMed, Sam was the Portfolio Manager of Worldwide Healthcare Trust PLC from 1995 to December 2017, the top-performing investment trust in the United Kingdom over that time period, which saw annualized returns of 16% per year during his 22-year tenure. He was also the Portfolio Manager of Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences Fund from 1989 to 2017. Sam was also the Portfolio Manager to Pharma/Wealth based in Luxembourg from 1993 to ~2007.

Sam consistently beat the S&P 500 for 25 consecutive years through 2015. He served as a member of the boards of directors for Worldwide Healthcare Trust Plc (1995-2017) and the Johnson Scholarship Foundation (2002-2010). In partnership with Princeton University, Sam founded the Samuel D. Isaly ’67 Fund for Discourse in Neuroscience at Princeton University. He also founded The Samuel D. Isaly Library with the Ohio Genealogical Society in Bellville, Ohio, in 2015.

Sam has three children and six grandchildren. He is an avid player of backgammon and follows Princeton basketball, Ohio State football and most high school athletics.