Mirror Review
July 16, 2025
Summary:
- Daniel Nadler, the cofounder and CEO of OpenEvidence, has become a billionaire with an estimated net worth of $2.3 billion.
- His company, OpenEvidence, which provides an AI-powered medical search engine for doctors, recently raised $210 million, reaching a valuation of $3.5 billion.
- The platform has seen rapid adoption, with 40% of U.S. doctors (over 430,000) now using the free tool to get quick, evidence-based answers to clinical questions.
“Artificial intelligence is a misnomer. It’s accelerated intelligence.”
This is the view of Daniel Nadler, a Canadian-born tech entrepreneur, artist, and poet who just became a billionaire.
His company, OpenEvidence, often called “ChatGPT for doctors,” is revolutionizing how physicians access medical information.
But beyond the billion-dollar headlines is an individual with a diverse and fascinating background… So, who is Daniel Nadler?
Here are ten rarely known Daniel Nadler facts, along with insights into his groundbreaking company, OpenEvidence!
1. Nadler Combined a Ph.D. in Financial Modeling with Poetry
Daniel Nadler pursued a diverse education at Harvard University while building his expertise in technology.
He earned a Ph.D. with a complex thesis on the pricing of credit derivatives, creating new statistical models for rare, high-impact financial events.
At the same time, he also formally studied poetry with Jorie Graham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet.
2. He is a Published Poet and Arts Advocate
Nadler applies his creativity beyond technology.
The major publisher Farrar, Straus and Giroux released his debut poetry collection, Lacunae: 100 Imagined Ancient Love Poems, in 2016.
In that same year, NPR recognized it as a ‘Best Book of the Year.’
In 2018, his commitment to the art form led to his election to the Board of Directors of the Academy of American Poets, making him the youngest person ever to join the board in its 85-year history.
3. Nadler Produced and Financed Hollywood Films
Nadler also worked in the world of filmmaking.
In 2018, he co-financed and worked as an executive producer on the crime drama Motherless Brooklyn, which featured a star-studded cast including Willem Dafoe, Bruce Willis, and Alec Baldwin.
He also co-financed and produced the drama Palmer starring Justin Timberlake, which went on to become the “Most-Watched Weekend Ever” on AppleTV+ after its 2021 release.
4. Personal Family Experiences Motivated Both Cofounders
The mission behind OpenEvidence is deeply personal for its founders.
Nadler’s grandfather died as a result of a medical error, an event that personally motivated him to improve how doctors access information.
His cofounder, CTO Zack Ziegler, was also moved by personal experience after watching his 22-year-old brother-in-law undergo treatment for leukemia.
Ziegler saw firsthand how “doctors are accessing [information by] literally leafing through a textbook” and felt technology could offer a better way.
5. Nadler Made a $10 Million Bet on Himself
As a second-time founder, Nadler decided to be the first investor in his new company.
He put approximately $10 million of his own money into OpenEvidence before looking for outside funding. He also believed that it was “by far the smartest financial decision I made in my life”.
This bold move, therefore, allowed him to keep a much larger 60% stake in the company, which is now central to his $2.3 billion net worth.
6. His First AI Company Solved a Problem at the Federal Reserve
Before helping doctors, Nadler helped financial analysts. He got the idea for his first company, Kensho, while he was a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve.
He was shocked to see regulators using “rudimentary Excel spreadsheets to make critical assessments”.
In 2013, he teamed up with programmer Peter Kruskall to found Kensho, which aimed to make financial analysis as easy as a Google search.
S&P Global later bought Kensho for $550 million in 2018.
7. He Identifies as a “Total Nerd” With a Competitive Streak
Nadler describes his younger self as a “total nerd”.
As a kid, the Mensa member found school boring and would get into memory competitions with friends, like seeing who could recite more pages of a Hamlet monologue.
This desire for a greater challenge is what led him to pursue his graduate studies at Harvard.
8. He Built OpenEvidence to Fight Physician Burnout
Nadler created OpenEvidence to solve what he calls a “dark age for physicians because of burnout”.
Medical knowledge doubles so fast—every five years, according to one source—that it’s impossible for doctors to keep up.
Nadler calculates that a new medical paper is published every minute, and reading just the top journals would take nine hours a day.
He describes OpenEvidence as a “brain extender” that helps clinicians manage this overwhelming “firehose of information”.
9. The Business Model Is Free for Doctors and Bypasses Bureaucracy
OpenEvidence makes its software free for all verified doctors.
Investor John Doerr praised this approach, calling the “free-for-physician model that’s the magic here”.
This clever strategy allows it to completely bypass the long and bureaucratic sales process that often slows down new technology adoption in hospitals.
Instead, the company earns revenue through an advertising model, similar to Google, where pharmaceutical companies and others can sponsor answers.
10. OpenEvidence’s Growth Rate Is One of the Fastest in History
The company’s growth has been amazing. Venture capital firm Sequoia, a key investor, stated, “Aside from the iPhone, we believe no technology has been adopted by doctors so quickly”.
OpenEvidence now has over 430,000 verified U.S. doctors (40% of the total), and is adding another 65,000 every month.
This proves a real-world impact, with doctors using the tool in about 8.5 million patient consultations a month.
The Future for Daniel Nadler and AI in Medicine
These Daniel Nadler facts prove that he has been successful in the worlds of finance, poetry, and film, and his current focus is firmly on healthcare.
By solving a crucial issue of information overload for physicians, Daniel Nadler has not only built a multi-billion-dollar company but also created a tool that has the potential to “revolutionize medicine for doctors and their patients alike.”
As AI continues to evolve, Nadler’s journey proves that the most profound applications may come from those who can combine deep technical knowledge with a humanistic understanding of real-world problems!
