Samuel "Sam" Wyly (born 1934) is an American entrepreneur and businessman, philanthropist, and major contributor to conservative campaigns and candidates. In 2006, Forbes magazine estimated his net worth at $1.1 billion. His older brother, Charles Wyly, Jr., was nearly equal in wealth; the two brothers were close with their business affairs, and were often referred to as the "Wyly brothers". Wyly's memoir, 1,000 Dollars and an Idea: Entrepreneur to Billionaire, was published in September 2008.[1]
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Wyly was born in Lake Providence, the seat of East Carroll Parish in northeastern Louisiana and one of the poorest communities in the United States.[2] He began working at an early age, helping his father, Charles Wyly, Sr., and mother, Flora Wyly, publish a weekly newspaper, the Delhi Dispatch in Delhi in Richland Parish. He sold advertising, wrote stories, folded and addressed the finished papers, and cleaned the printing presses.[3][4]
Following high school, Wyly went to Louisiana Tech University.[3] He worked his way through college by selling class rings.[4]He and his brother later honored one of their Tech professors, Robert C. Snyder, of the English department, with an endowed chair.[5]
Following graduation, Wyly went to the University of Michigan's School of Business in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where in 1957 he received a Master of Business Administration degree before such credentials became so recognized. He is one of seventeen Michigan Business School graduates who are billionaires. He was able to attend only because of a new scholarship program, having enrolled as the school's first Paton scholar .[6]
After receiving his MBA Wyly moved to Dallas to work as a salesman at IBM's Service Bureau Corporation.[2] Three and a half years later he left IBM to become the area sales manager for Honeywell, establishing their computer business in Dallas and Oklahoma.[4]
Wyly's wealth comes from businesses that he founded and developed, or purchased and expanded;
In March 2007, commenting on the purchase of a local bookstore by Wyly and his wife Cheryl, the Aspen Times noted that the Wyly family "has been known not only for its philanthropic efforts, but also its large contributions to conservative political campaigns and candidates."[11] Wyly and his brother Charles have personally given about $10 million to Republican causes and candidates between the early 1970s and 2006, they say;[12] both are Bush Pioneers.
In 2000, Sam Wyly contributed $2.5 million to a group called "Republicans for Clean Air",[13] which ran ads praising George W. Bush's environmental record and criticizing that of John McCain. The ads ran in New York, Ohio, and California in advance of early March primaries, at a time when Bush and McCain were locked in a tight struggle for the Republican presidential nomination. It initially was unclear who was behind the group or who paid for the ads until Wyly stepped forward to take the credit.[14]
In 2004, Wyly also donated $20,000 to the Swift Boat campaign that raised questions about Sen. John Kerry's military record in Vietnam, helping scuttle Kerry's challenge to Bush. Wyly said in 2008 that he was not leaning toward either Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama in that year's presidential campaign, and would not get involved in the race.[15]
Wyly and his late brother Charles spent more than ninety million dollars on a wide range of charities.[16] In 1968, he set up the Sam Wyly Foundation to help minority businessmen.[4] He also helped to start an educational TV channel in Dallas.[4]
With Charles, he funded the Charles Wyly Sr. Tower of Learning on the campus of Louisiana Tech, in memory of their father. The building includes a computer center and the university library.[4] He also made a $10 million gift for Sam Wyly Hall, at the University of Michigan (2000),[6] and is a significant supporter of the Aspen Writers' Foundation.[11]
In 1979, Wyly settled Securities and Exchange Commission charges that he made undisclosed payments to associates to buy up company bonds as part of a plan to stave off bankruptcy. He settled without acknowledging any wrongdoing.[17]
In August 2006, the Dallas Morning News reported that Sam and Charles Wyly were under investigation by the SEC, a grand jury in Dallas and a grand jury in New York,[18] regarding their use of potentially illegal offshore tax shelters. Senate investigators allege that the Wyly brothers used the offshore trusts to buy $30 million worth of artwork, jewelry, furniture and other items for their personal use. The Wyly brothers denied any wrongdoing, and stated that they just followed the advice of their financial advisers.[18] They told the Senate Permanent Investigations subcommittee investigating the offshore tax shelters that they would invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination; they were not called to testify.[19]
On July 29, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Charles and Sam Wyly with fraud for violating federal securities laws governing ownership and trading of securities by corporate insiders. The Wyly brothers are alleged to have profited by more than $550 million in undisclosed gains. The charges state that this occurred through the trading of stock in public companies that the brothers were serving as board members. They allegedly, through hidden entities located in foreign jurisdictions, concealed their ownership and trading of those securities.[20][21][22]
Wyly and his brother Charles, older by a year, were close all their life. They played high school football, attended Louisiana Tech University, and joined Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity together. [23] The brothers have worked together in a large number of businesses they've owned or run.[12][24]
In August 2006, Wyly and his third wife,[3] Cheryl, lived in a 8,450-square-foot (785 m2), $7.48 million house in Highland Park, Texas.[12] Wyly has six adult children[4] from his first two marriages.[3] [7]