A two-time fundster entrepreneur died last week.

Samuel Spencer Stewart, Jr. July 3, 1942 - November 23, 2021

Sam Stewart, co-founder of Seven Canyons Advisors and founder of Wasatch Global Investors, passed away at home on November 23, at the age of 79, after recent heart surgery.

Samuel Spencer Stewart Jr. was born on July 3, 1942 in Salt Lake City, Utah. After earning his undergraduate degree in business from Northwestern University and his MBA and finance PhD from Stanford University, Stewart taught at Columbia University and worked at the SEC.

In 1975 in Salt Lake City, Stewart launched Wasatch Advisors (later rebranded as Wasatch Global Investors), with a focus on small-cap growth investing, and the employee-owned firm has since grown into an 88-person, $39.5-billion-AUM shop. (The name comes from the nearby Wasatch mountains.) He led the firm until stepping back a bit in 2009 and selling back his ownership stake.

In 2018, after 43 years with Wasatch, Stewart left the firm and, alongside two sons and a son-in-law, co-founded Seven Canyons, a boutique focused on global small cap investing.

Meanwhile, Stewart served as a professor of finance at the University of Utah until 2000. He also worked on his ranch in Mount Pleasant, herding cattle up until last year.

JB Taylor, the current CEO of Wasatch, remembers Stewart as "a monumental mentor."

"He believed in me and gave me opportunities and responsibilities long before it was rational to do so," Taylor states. "He influenced me in innumerable ways — and I will always miss his laugh, his penchant for playful debate, his passion for stocks/sports/farming/film/art and his consistently positive outlook."

"He mentored scores of people and delivered outsized investment results for clients over decades," states Spencer Stewart, one of Sam's sons. "We are grateful for his lasting impact on us all."

"We are grateful to have have the chance to work with our father who helped us create Seven Canyons in the twilight of his career," states Josh Stewart, another of Sam's sons. "He will be deeply missed."

Sam Stewart is survived by his wife, seven children, two stepchildren, and 11 grandchildren. A memorial service is scheduled for Thursday at Federal Heights Ward in Salt Lake City, with visitation starting at 12pm mountain time and the service starting at 1pm. In lieu of flowers, the family is directing donations to No Poor Among Us. 

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