Stuart Weisbrod and Jacob Gottlieb teaming up with a new investment firm

Jacob Gottlieb and Stuart Weisbrod have joined forces to launch a new investment firm. With over twenty years of experience running separate funds, these two heavy hitters of healthcare investment are no strangers to the industry.

In 1998, Stuart Weisbrod was a co-founding partner in Merlin, which was an investment management company whose portfolio included pharmaceutical, healthcare services, biotechnology, and medical devices. Some of Stuart Weisbrod’s other successful ventures include Harpel Partners, Merrill Lynch, Prudential-Bache Securities, and Oracle Partners. His academic history is equally important. In 1975, he graduated from Colgate University with a BA in Chemistry. Five years later, he earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Princeton University. In 1986, he graduated with an MBA in Finance from Columbia University.

After starting up Merlin, Weisbrod then went on to launch another investment firm called Iguana Healthcare Partners. This new investment firm shared Merlin’s investment philosophy by investing in public companies that included health care services, diagnostic services, and healthcare information companies.

Following his departure from Merlin, Jacob Gottlieb found vast success with his own ventures. Jacob Gottlieb founded Visium Asset Management with $300 million in capital. By 2008, that figure had grown to $2.5 billion. Visium Asset Management weathered the financial crisis of 2008 with resounding success, and under Gottlieb’s management, the firm expanded to $8 billion with offices in London, San Francisco, and New York.

In 2016, Visium came to an abrupt end when three senior executives were accused of insider trading. A Visium employee and whistleblower, Jason Thorell, spent over two years gathering evidence of the companies illegal activities for the SEC and the FBI. This evidence led to a large investigation and charges against the executives.

For more than two years, the SEC continued its investigation into Visium. Some of the more recent charges were brought against both the company itself and Visiums CFO. While Visium has neither denied or admitted the charges, the company has agreed to pay $10 million in fines and disgorgement. Jacob Gottlieb was never charged with any crimes and has continued his work at the firm to return funds to its investors.