# Sam Koppelman
**Sam Koppelman** is an American writer, speechwriter, and media entrepreneur, best known as co-founder and Publisher of Hunterbrook, a company that pairs financial investigative journalism with a hedge fund that trades on that reporting, and as the credited co-author of books with former Attorney General Eric Holder and former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal.[1](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/25/hunterbrook-media-sam-koppelman-journalism-00158129) • [2](https://hntrbrk.com/team/sam-koppelman) He is the son of screenwriter and TV showrunner [Brian Koppelman](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-koppelman).[3](https://www.businessinsider.com/hunterbrook-media-connected-new-yorker-story-sam-koppelman-nathaniel-horwitz-2024-5)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current role | Publisher and co-founder of Hunterbrook Media, dated from May 2023 on his LinkedIn; the combined media-and-hedge-fund outfit launched publicly in spring 2024[3](https://www.businessinsider.com/hunterbrook-media-connected-new-yorker-story-sam-koppelman-nathaniel-horwitz-2024-5) |
| Funding | $10 million raised for the media startup and $100 million for the hedge fund[3](https://www.businessinsider.com/hunterbrook-media-connected-new-yorker-story-sam-koppelman-nathaniel-horwitz-2024-5) |
| Credited books | *Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump* with Neal Katyal (2019) and *Our Unfinished March* with Eric Holder (2022)[4](https://www.audible.com/author/Sam-Koppelman/B07ZTWBR8Q) |
| Other ventures | Co-founder of Mayday Health, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educating on abortion pill access in states without clinics[5](https://fenway.nclud.com/team/sam-koppelman/) |
| Education | BA in Government from Harvard; John Harvard Scholar; Op-Eds Editor at The Harvard Crimson[6](https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/koppelman-sam) |
## Early life and education
Koppelman was born and raised in New York, where he still lives.[7](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2270936/sam-koppelman/) His father is Brian Koppelman, the screenwriter and TV showrunner; Politico described the family as an "elite literary family."[3](https://www.businessinsider.com/hunterbrook-media-connected-new-yorker-story-sam-koppelman-nathaniel-horwitz-2024-5) • [1](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/25/hunterbrook-media-sam-koppelman-journalism-00158129)
At [Harvard College](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvard-college) he took a B.A. in government, was named a John Harvard Scholar in recognition of "superior academic achievement," worked as a Research Fellow in the Department of Government, and served at The Harvard Crimson as Op-Ed Editor and Executive Magazine Editor.[6](https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/koppelman-sam) His first national byline came in April 2016, when the then 20-year-old wrote a letter to the New York Times lamenting that supporting [Hillary Clinton](https://www.edgepedia.org/hillary-clinton) on the pro-[Bernie Sanders](https://www.edgepedia.org/bernie-sanders) campus meant he "might as well be Pat Buchanan."[8](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/08/harvard-students-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-2016-election)
## Career as writer and ghostwriter
Koppelman started at Fenway Strategies, a strategic communications firm, while still a college student and wrote there for public officials, philanthropists, business leaders, and nonprofits.[5](https://fenway.nclud.com/team/sam-koppelman/) His publisher page says he spent half a decade at the firm, while Fenway's own team page says over seven years.[7](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2270936/sam-koppelman/) • [5](https://fenway.nclud.com/team/sam-koppelman/)
His political speechwriting is documented in two campaigns. From August to November 2020 he was Director of Surrogate Speechwriting at Biden for President, writing remarks for the campaign's surrogates; [Penguin Random House](https://www.edgepedia.org/penguin-random-house) and Hunterbrook's site both describe the role.[7](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2270936/sam-koppelman/) • [2](https://hntrbrk.com/team/sam-koppelman)
## Founding and ventures
**Hunterbrook.** With his college friend [Nathaniel Horwitz](https://www.edgepedia.org/nathaniel-horwitz), Koppelman founded [Hunterbrook](https://www.edgepedia.org/hunterbrook), whose name is a portmanteau of Koppelman's middle name Hunter (after [Hunter S. Thompson](https://www.edgepedia.org/hunter-s-thompson)) and Horwitz's Brooks (after his mother, the author Geraldine Brooks).[1](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/25/hunterbrook-media-sam-koppelman-journalism-00158129) The structure is unusual: a media company does financial investigative journalism, and a separate financial company invests based on that work, taking short positions on companies Hunterbrook covers.[1](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/25/hunterbrook-media-sam-koppelman-journalism-00158129) Koppelman raised $10 million for the media startup and $100 million for the hedge fund.[3](https://www.businessinsider.com/hunterbrook-media-connected-new-yorker-story-sam-koppelman-nathaniel-horwitz-2024-5) His LinkedIn dates his co-founder role from May 2023, while Business Insider described the combined outfit as launching in spring 2024.[3](https://www.businessinsider.com/hunterbrook-media-connected-new-yorker-story-sam-koppelman-nathaniel-horwitz-2024-5)
**Mayday Health.** Koppelman co-founded Mayday Health in June 2022, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that educates Americans on how to access abortion pills across all 50 states, described by Fenway as the leading education nonprofit on getting abortion pills in states without clinics.[5](https://fenway.nclud.com/team/sam-koppelman/)
## Notable works and collaborations
Koppelman is credited as co-author on two books. *Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump*, with [Neal Katyal](https://www.edgepedia.org/neal-katyal), was released November 26, 2019 (6 hours 40 minutes unabridged audio).[4](https://www.audible.com/author/Sam-Koppelman/B07ZTWBR8Q) *Our Unfinished March: The Violent Past and Imperiled Future of the Vote*, with [Eric Holder](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-holder), was released in audio May 10, 2022, narrated by Holder, and published in paperback by One World on June 6, 2023 (ISBN 9780593445761, $20.00 US).[4](https://www.audible.com/author/Sam-Koppelman/B07ZTWBR8Q) • [7](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2270936/sam-koppelman/) He has also published op-eds in the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, and Time Magazine.[2](https://hntrbrk.com/team/sam-koppelman)
## Hunterbrook by the numbers
The venture's scale is measurable in a few figures. The media company was capitalized with $10 million and the affiliated hedge fund with $100 million.[3](https://www.businessinsider.com/hunterbrook-media-connected-new-yorker-story-sam-koppelman-nathaniel-horwitz-2024-5) Hunterbrook's business model, Koppelman writes, does not rely on clicks or subscribers, so the company measures success by change effected rather than audience reached; he lists state and federal investigations, RICO lawsuits, and stock price accountability as outcomes following its stories, and has claimed one investigation led to a congressional hearing in under a month.[9](https://quarantine.substack.com/p/the-world-has-too-many-podcasts-i)
## Recent developments
The paperback of *Our Unfinished March* appeared in June 2023, and Koppelman's LinkedIn dates his Hunterbrook co-founder role from May 2023.[7](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2270936/sam-koppelman/) Politico profiled Hunterbrook around its public launch on May 25, 2024.[1](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/25/hunterbrook-media-sam-koppelman-journalism-00158129) In September 2025 he launched a Hunterbrook podcast, The Hunt, with [Caroline Calloway](https://www.edgepedia.org/caroline-calloway), in which Hunterbrook reporters and intel analysts explain scams to Calloway; the first episode asked why a [Super Bowl](https://www.edgepedia.org/super-bowl) ad starring [Nick Jonas](https://www.edgepedia.org/nick-jonas) disappeared from the YouTube channel of the $30 billion blood glucose monitor company that produced it.[9](https://quarantine.substack.com/p/the-world-has-too-many-podcasts-i) In a CNBC appearance dated July 9, 2026, Koppelman, as Publisher at Hunterbrook, discussed his investigation into Bloom Energy questioning its China supply chain and AI data center claims.[10](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/07/09/sam-koppelman-on-report-questioning-bloom-energys-ai-supply-chain-claims.html)
## References
1. [This Hedge Fund Wants to Save Investigative Journalism, Politico Magazine (May 25, 2024)](https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/05/25/hunterbrook-media-sam-koppelman-journalism-00158129)
2. [Sam Koppelman, Hunterbrook Media team page](https://hntrbrk.com/team/sam-koppelman)
3. [We're Reading: Being Well Connected Doesn't Hurt Hunterbrook Media, Business Insider (May 2024)](https://www.businessinsider.com/hunterbrook-media-connected-new-yorker-story-sam-koppelman-nathaniel-horwitz-2024-5)
4. [Sam Koppelman, Audible author page](https://www.audible.com/author/Sam-Koppelman/B07ZTWBR8Q)
5. [Sam Koppelman, Fenway Strategies team page](https://fenway.nclud.com/team/sam-koppelman/)
6. [Koppelman, Sam, HarperCollins author page](https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/koppelman-sam)
7. [Sam Koppelman, Penguin Random House author page](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2270936/sam-koppelman/)
8. ['I've been silent': Harvard's Clinton backers face life on a pro-Bernie campus, The Guardian (May 8, 2016)](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/08/harvard-students-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-2016-election)
9. [The world has too many podcasts. I started a new one., Quarantine Substack (September 2025)](https://quarantine.substack.com/p/the-world-has-too-many-podcasts-i)
10. [Sam Koppelman on report questioning Bloom Energy's AI supply chain claims, CNBC (July 9, 2026)](https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/07/09/sam-koppelman-on-report-questioning-bloom-energys-ai-supply-chain-claims.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Founders, operators, and investors › Consumer, industrial, and services founders › United States and Canada › Media and entertainment founders*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 10, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 10, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license