Brad Garlinghouse Net Worth, Crypto and NFT Investments

According to Forbes, the net worth of Brad Garlinghouse is around $9.5 billion. The net worth of Brad Garlinghouse gained a significant boost as a result of his 6.3% stake in Ripple. Also, his XRP holdings contributed to his wealth, making him one of the richest crypto investors. 

Brad Garlinghouse is the CEO of Ripple, and has been a subject of numerous controversies. The most notable of these controversies was the lawsuit instituted by SEC against Ripple. Brad Garlinghouse was a party to the lawsuit which ended in favor of Ripple following the declaration by a U.S. court that XRP is not a security.

Brad Garlinghouse’s Estimated Net Worth

Early Life

Bradley Kent Garlinghouse was born on February 6, 1971, in Topeka, Kansas. He bagged a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Kansas. Also, he has an MBA from Harvard Business School. Upon the completion of his MBA, Brad Garlinghouse served as the CEO of various organizations between 2001 to 2003. Some of these organizations are Home Network, Ventures, and Dalipad. It is worth mentioning that Dalipad specializes in VOIP services and computer-to-computer calling services.

Meanwhile, in 2003, Brad Garlinghouse joined Yahoo. He worked in the organization as the Senior Vice President for eight (8) years. While at the organization, he wrote an internal memo titled “Peanut Butter Manifesto.” In the memo, Garlinghouse urged the organization to focus on the basis of its business. Brad Garlinghouse, according to the memo, faulted Yahoo’s intent to venture into other markets. He described the intended effort as “spreading too thin like peanut butter.”

In 2005, Brad Garlinghouse moved to Silver Lake where he served as a senior adviser. Silver Lake is a global tech investment firm with more than $180 billion in annual revenue. In the U.S., Silver Lake is prominent for its creation of more than 40,000 employment opportunities. However, between 2009 to 2011, Garlinghouse served as the president of Consumer Applications at AOL. AOL is a market leader in internet content distribution and advertising. After AOL, Brad Garlinghouse joined Hightail and became the CEO.

He left Hightail in September 2014 after a clash of interest with its board of directors regarding the direction and business pursuit of the firm. Between 2013 and 2017, Brad Garlinghouse served in numerous organizations. Some of these organizations include Ancestry.com, Tonic Health, and Animoto.

Ripple

In April 2015, Brad Garlinghouse joined Ripple as its CTO. Then, he was assigned to report to the CEO and co-founder Chris Larsen. In 2016, he became the CEO of Ripple. Under Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple enjoyed widespread attention which saw more than 100 banks adopting its XCurrent messaging solution. This solution is designed to help avail cross-border payment at a low cost. The project attracted huge attention that saw investors pump money into it.

Honored that @Ripple is included in this year’s CNBC #Disrupter50 list. It’s truly the most exciting time to work in the crypto industry and good news — Ripple is hiring! 1/2 https://t.co/WDu1JeutHe https://t.co/8GD8YsNIz8

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) May 26, 2021

Earlier, Brad Garlinghouse disclosed that Ripple raised $200 million from a series C funding round. According to the CEO, firms like Tetragon, SBI Ventures, and Route 66 Ventures participated in the funding round. Meanwhile, in 2020, Brad Garlinghouse raised alarm about how the sales of XRP tokens could make or mar Ripple. He disclosed that the organization would record a huge loss if it fails to generate revenue from the sales of XRP tokens. 

Under the leadership of Brad Garlinghouse, Ripple helped solve the slow processing of cross-border transactions in Brazil. The firm collaborated with Travelex on August 19, 2022, to develop a platform that will facilitate swift and cost-effective cross-border transactions in Brazil.

Shortly after the collapse of FTX dominated the airspace, reports surfaced that Ripple could purchase some of its assets. In reaction, Brad Garlinghouse spoke about how Sam Bankman-Fried contacted him as he rallied around to gather investors in a bid to save his crypto exchange. During his revelation, he disclosed that Ripple would be interested in buying the part of FTX assets that served business customers. However, he admitted that the deal could not materialize because “it’s a harder path to transact.” 

At the height of the FTX meltdown in December 2022, Brad Garlinghouse raised alarm about how the Wells Fargo mismanagement crisis hasn’t received much attention. The Ripple CEO made the comment in regard to the weight of attention the FTX crisis attracted. The comment emanated in reaction to how the United States Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ordered Wells Fargo to pay $2 billion in redress to consumers. Also, the regulator asked Wells Fargo, at that time, to pay an additional $1.7 billion as a civil penalty.

In December 2022, controversies surfaced about the decentralization of Ripple’s XRP ledger. Popular artificial intelligence tool, ChatGPT, alleged that the XRP Ledger (XRPL) is somehow being secretly controlled by Ripple. The allegation attracted the attention of top executive members of the firm who questioned the logic of the AI tool. However, the team behind the tool stated that ChatGPT as of then was still at its research stage. 

Later in 2023, Ripple through the Blockchain Founders Fund participated in an investment geared towards advancing the evolving Web3 space. The firm joined other blockchain firms like Polygon, Octava, NEO Global Capital, Appworks, GSR, LD Capital, and Metavest Capital alongside many others to raise $75 million for the initiative. The fund was channeled towards providing support for early-stage pre-seed and seed projects that could facilitate the mass adoption of Web3 and blockchain technology. More so, the fund has been leveraged to assist over 100 startups, including Altered State Machine, Splinterlands, GRID, Krayon, and Magna.

Meanwhile, Brad Garlinghouse as the CEO of Ripple has been vocal against the regulatory clampdowns of crypto exchanges by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. During a March 3, 2023 interview with Bloomberg, the Ripple CEO noted that the stern approach by the regulator towards crypto firms in the country could make it an unattractive destination for virtual assets investment. He discussed how other countries are doing well to attract crypto investment as a result of their clear-cut regulation. 

During the turmoil of the United States banking sector and the meltdown of SVB, Brad Garlinghouse spoke about the implication of the situation on Ripple. On March 12, 2023, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, took to Twitter to assure users about the stability of the organization despite the crisis. The CEO admitted that Ripple had significant exposure to SVB but emphasized that its collapse will not affect the day-to-day operations of the crypto firm. However, Brad Garlinghouse chose not to establish the total value of the exposure. 

As promised by Garlinghouse, Ripple’s operations were not impacted by the exposure. As a matter of fact, the firm has continued to make progress in its quest for expansion. This is evident in how it partnered the Central Bank of Montenegro, in April 2023, to create a system and pilot program for a Montenegrin virtual currency. Then, the announcement indicated that the virtual currency could either be a central bank digital currency or a stablecoin. Further, the Central Bank commenced a consultation with relevant stakeholders to determine the advantages and disadvantages a CBDC or national stablecoin could pose to the country’s economy. 

On April 13, 2023, after a successful pilot program, Brad Garlinghouse oversaw the launching of Ripple’s liquidity solution for businesses to bridge the gap between crypto and fiat. Ripple, through the solution, aims to provide a pool of liquidity for firms to support its famous cross-border payments system; on-demand liquidity.

On April 17, 2023, reports surfaced that top Japanese banks such as Yamaguchi, Momiji, and Kitakyushu had adopted the MoneyTap P2P remittance service based on RippleNet. The MoneyTap solution supports banks to offer a peer-to-peer remittance service to their customers through a mobile application. The adoption highlighted how MoneyTap has grown in reputation and adoption in Japan. Aside from Yamaguchi, Momiji, and Kitakyushu, other banks in the country showed interest in integrating the solution for their users. 

Brad Garlinghouse during the Dubai Fintech Summit held in May 2023 registered disappointment at the troubling crypto-regulatory atmosphere in the United States. The Ripple CEO spoke about how the firm has spent about $200 million in its case against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He emphasized that Ripple won’t have to incur such expenses if the regulator had done its regulatory assignment properly.

Around May 2023, Ripple announced the takeover of Swiss digital asset custodian and tokenization provider Metaco for $250 million. With the acquisition, Ripple aimed to expand its enterprise offering to custody, issue, and settle tokenized assets. The deal surfaced as part of Brad Garlinghouse’s confidence regarding the projection of the institutional crypto-custody market. Ripple posited that by 2030, the institutional crypto-custody market will hit $10 trillion. 

In the same month, Ripple also announced that its plan to participate in the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s (HKMA’s) digital Hong Kong dollar (e-HKD) central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot program. With its participation, Ripple showcased its real estate asset tokenization solution. Also, reports surfaced that during the participation Ripple will unveil its new CBDC platform.

Meanwhile, the crypto firm has also acquired a minority stake in the popular cryptocurrency exchange, Bitstamp. As revealed, the firm acquired shares previously owned by Pantera Capital. Pantera capitals was one of the largest shareholders in Bitstamp until 2018. The investment firm invested $10 million in Bitstamp in 2014. In 2018, Pantera Capitals sold part of its shares in the cryptocurrency exchange for Belgium-based investment firm, NXMH for $60 million.

On June 12, 2023, Ripple through its University Blockchain Research Initiative collaborated with the Toronto University. Consequently, the collaboration is aimed at launching an independent XRP Ledger (XRPL) validator. Also, the partnership birthed a focus on blockchain and crypto technology research at the university. In the same month, Ripple under Brad Garlinghouse collaborated with the Colombian government. The partnership surfaced in a bid to pilot use cases that will strengthen Colombia’s high-value payment system. 

Lawsuit

Brad Garlinghouse has been the subject of various lawsuits. In 2018, his name appeared in a group of class actions. The case is popularly themed as Zakinov v. Ripple Labs Inc. The lawsuit surfaced in 2018 with allegations that Brad Garlinghouse and his Ripple employees breached numerous California and Federal securities laws. Also, Brad Garlinghouse is a party to another case involving Bitcoin Manipulation Abatement LLC and Ripple. 

In 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit against Ripple. According to the lawsuit, the regulator alleged that the blockchain firm raised more than $1 billion in 2013 through the sale of XRP in an unregistered security offering to investors. The SEC extended the charges to Brad Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen, arguing that they sold unregulated securities. Backing its claims, the regulator cited how Ripple between 2013 to 2020 sold more than 14.6 billion XRP in return for cash. 

Additionally, the SEC argued that Ripple never filed a registration document. The regulator alleged that its regulation required companies in the stock market to seek approval when seeking to raise capital from the public.

Meanwhile, it is worth mentioning that SEC through the lawsuit intends to bring the crypto market under its regulation as a ruling in its favor will set a relevant precedent. By that, the SEC will gain more judicial backing to go after other crypto firms that offer similar services like Ripple. Also, it will empower the SEC to level hefty fines against the firm, Brad Garlinghouse and Christian Larsen. However, Ripple and Brad Garlinghouse in their defense argued that the SEC lacks the jurisdiction to oversee its activities. The Ripple CEO referred to the lawsuit as an obstructive behavior fromthe regulator. 

Also, the General Counsel to Ripple, Stuart Alderoty, said that the SEC has been unable to “satisfy a single prong of the Supreme Court’s Howey Test.” The Howdy test is a recognized premise used by the SEC to justify if an asset is a security. In addition, the Howey Test is a reference to the U.S. Supreme Court case; SEC v. Howey of 1946. The Supreme Court held that the offer of a land sales and service contract is an investment contract. Consequently, the ruling deemed an investment contract to be considered a security under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. It established that an “investment of money in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the efforts of others.”

Also, Ripple in its defense referenced the Hinman Speech to dispute that the XRP is a security. The Hinman Speech refers to a set of emails exchanged between former Securities and Exchange Commission director William Hinman and members of the SEC staff in preparation for a June 14, 2018 speech. During the speech, he talked about how different virtual assets can be regulated. He also established that he doesn’t consider Bitcoin and Ethereum as securities. Ripple is confident that the declaration by William Hinman is enough premise to dislodge the complaints by the SEC. 

Meanwhile, the SEC on various occasions attempted to distance the documents containing William Hinman’s emails from the proceedings of the lawsuit. It took the intervention of the presiding judge to compel the regulator into releasing the document. Due to that, Ripple gained a significant boost in its argument and potentially placed the firm on the course of victory against the SEC. 

Also, late last year, some fraud and conspiracy allegations were leveled against Brad Garlinghouse. The allegations involved Kyle Roche of Roche Freedman Law Firm and CEO of Ava Labs, Emin Gün Sire. The allegations established how Kyle Roche met Brad Garlinghouse to assist the law firm to sue Ripple’s rivals. Further, the reports allegedly disclosed that the duo reached an agreement to work together. The allegations spurred a response from Brad Garlinghouse who denied ever meeting Kyle Roche regarding for such issue.

Can’t comment on the validity of the slew of allegations in here, but I can unequivocally say that I have never met or spoken to (much less invested in) Kyle Roche. https://t.co/s5Qu91AV2Z pic.twitter.com/DjLZ0eSdbe

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) August 29, 2022

However, Ripple and its executives recorded a massive victory in their defense against the SEC lawsuit on July 13, 2023. A ruling by Judge Analisa Torres of the United States District Court affirmed that XRP is not a security. This thus puts a lasting end to the ongoing debate as regards the status of the token and will, as well serve as a substantial precedence for other similar lawsuits unfolding in the industry.

Barely a few minutes after the news of the ruling dominated the airspace, XRP soared by almost 70%. More so, popular crypto exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken have now resolved to relist XRP on their networks. In an announcement by Coinbase, it said trading for XRP will resume as soon as certain liquidity conditions are met. The exchange also pledged to re-enable XRP-USDT and XRP-EUR trading pairs in phases.

Coinbase will re-enable trading for XRP (XRP) on the XRP network. Do not send this asset over other networks or your funds may be lost. Transfers for this asset remain available on @Coinbase & @CoinbaseExch in the regions where trading is supported.

— Coinbase Assets 🛡️ (@CoinbaseAssets) July 13, 2023

Similarly, Kraken, in its own post, said customers in the United States can now deposit and trade XRP.

📢 New token available for USA 🦅🇺🇸

✔️ $XRP @ripple
✔️ Trading is now LIVE

Learn more 👉 https://t.co/eqleKbTIQj pic.twitter.com/qGIqqvP9FZ

— Kraken Pro (@krakenpro) July 13, 2023

Is Brad Garlinghouse Pro Crypto?

Brad Garlinghouse has over the years, proven himself as one of the “big guns” in the crypto industry. As a committed supporter of digital assets, the Ripple chief has no doubt about the potential of cryptocurrency to be the future of global financial infrastructure. Garlinghouse has also been vocal about the efficiency of blockchain as the underpinning technology of cryptocurrency. He sees the tech as the best solution for the numerous issues in the financial and cybersecurity world.

Specifically, the Ripple CEO has preferential admiration for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and XRP. His exposure to Bitcoin, known as the father of all cryptocurrencies could be traced to its earliest days. Reflecting on this, Garlinghouse said, “I had been exposed to Bitcoin early. I thought the consumer application of it felt, to me, further away. I thought there would be faster adoption of the blockchain in the enterprise space and with banks.”

To Brad Garlinghouse, Bitcoin launched the cryptocurrency revolution and has set a clear pathway for other new assets to follow. However, upon his appointment as the CEO of Ripple in 2017, he began to talk more about the weaknesses of Bitcoin to promote XRP. The Ripple CEO is now seeing Bitcoin in the bad idea category owing to its inability to process transactions very fast. While at the Recode’s Code Conference, Garlinghouse said; “people talk about using bitcoin to buy coffee. The average Bitcoin transaction can take as much as 20 minutes. And the transaction cost is going to double the price of your coffee. We may come to find that bitcoin is kind of the Napster of digital assets.”

Unsurprisingly, Garlinghouse said Ripple provides a better alternative to Bitcoin. Findings show that while Bitcoin can only process about seven transactions per second, XRP has the capacity to process not less than 1,500 per second. This, according to the Ripple CEO, places XRP above Bitcoin and makes the latter unsuitable for payments. Although, despite his consistent jab at the coin’s scalability issues, Garlinghouse has always admitted that he is a Bitcoin bull and sees the crypto as a better store of value in the same category with Gold.

“I’m bullish on BTC as a store of value, but not for payments. You don’t want to use BTC at Starbucks b/c by the time you get your coffee, it’ll be cold.” –@bgarlinghouse at @WSJ Journal House … good point on why there won’t be one crypto to rule them all! pic.twitter.com/c89KrFILoc

— Asheesh Birla (@ashgoblue) January 23, 2020

As one of the notable proponents of cryptocurrency, the Ripple CEO usually cautions other proponents against a term he described as Bitcoin “tribalism.” He spoke more about the trend and its negative implication on the crypto sphere at the 2022 Paris Blockchain Week Summit. According to him; the term explains how several Bitcoin admirers see the crypto as the only digital asset in the right path. This category of people is referred to as Bitcoin “maximalists.” He asserted that the rising polarization is unhealthy and has continued to curtail the growth of the industry.

Garlinghouse affirmed himself as an absolute believer in all worthwhile innovations greeting the crypto space. He does not believe in the argument that only Bitcoin will succeed over time; stressing “all boats can rise.” The Ripple CEO justified his stance about the possibility of multiple projects thriving in the same industry with a reflection of the dot-com era. According to Garlinghouse, “Yahoo could be successful and so could eBay. They’re solving different problems. There’s different use cases and different audiences and different markets. I think a lot of those parallels exist today.”

He lamented how the polarization in the industry has brought about “fractured representation” when it comes to calling U.S. lawmakers to address regulatory issues. Garlinghouse’s belief is that the industry can only attain greater heights when actors begin to speak in a united voice. Meanwhile, he advised Bitcoin investors not to be reluctant in embracing other crypto assets that are existing to create value.

It is worth mentioning that Brad Garlinghouse has continued to make his mark in the crypto market through his inestimable contributions to the success of Ripple. Since his appointment as CEO in 2017, he has been able to grow XRP into becoming one of the leading crypto assets in terms of market cap. He has shown great commitment to guiding the firm to success despite the numerous challenges. Recall that the firm had been in a legal battle with the U.S. SEC since 2020. Despite the challenges faced by Ripple during the legal crisis, it was still up and doing under the guidance of Brad Garlinghouse.

Garlinghouse has been vocal amid the clampdown on crypto firms in the U.S. He is an advocate of a clearer regulatory framework and has always slammed the SEC for its alleged excesses. In an Interview with a known publication around 2021, the Ripple CEO said the U.S. was the only country calling XRP a security. He added that the U.S. regulator has continued to frustrate the crypto market through with its regulatory confusion. Recall that apart from the lawsuit against Ripple, SEC is also on the neck of other notable exchanges like Coinbase and Binance.

He strongly believes Europe will be the beneficiary of the U.S. regulatory confusion. According to him, many crypto firms will leave the U.S. for a jurisdiction with a better regulatory framework. “Frankly, it’s why you’re seeing entrepreneurship and investment flowing into other jurisdictions—and certainly Europe has been a significant beneficiary of the confusion that has existed in the U.S.,” the Ripple CEO said.

Crypto and NFT Holdings of Brad Garlinghouse

Certainly, Brad Garlinghouse is one of the CEOs with a massive crypto portfolio. According to Forbes, the overall value of his entire crypto portfolio is around $400 million to $500 million. Also, in a 2022 fireside chat with Messari CEO Ryan Selkis, the Ripple CEO talked briefly about the assets in his personal crypto portfolio. He listed Bitcoin, XRP, and Ethereum as the crypto assets he held at that time.

It might be a surprise to many that Garlinghouse holds rival crypto assets with XRP despite being the CEO of Ripple. However, don’t forget that he has over time, described himself as an “absolute believer” in every worthwhile crypto asset.

Besides, Garlinghouse’s exposure to Bitcoin, according to some sources, had even started prior to his appointment as the CEO of Ripple. Therefore we can classify him as one of the earliest investors in the largest crypto in the market. Although the exact worth of his holdings is not in the public domain, we are sure that he must have invested heavily just like other gallant Bitcoin investors. More so, it is not in doubt that the net worth of Brad Garlinghouse has been boosted by the aggressive rise in the value of Bitcoin within the past few years.

As the CEO of Ripple, it is not unexpected that his portfolio will be dominated by XRP. According to findings, he is one of the largest holders of the token. So, it is safe to call him an XRP whale. Although Brad Garlinghouse has chosen to conceal the exact worth of his XRP holdings, we have no doubt that the investment coupled with his salary as Ripple CEO constitutes a significant part of his net worth.

However, Garlinghouse is also bullish about NFTs. His belief is that the market is unjustly underhyped despite its recent success. But, he is yet to confirm whether he holds any of the existing collections or not.

Crypto and NFT Projects Featuring Brad Garlinghouse

There is an NFT collection featuring Brad Garlinghouse. The collection is live on Solsea which prides itself as the biggest NFT platform on Solana. At the time of writing, “Brad Garlinghouse” NFT sells for 30 SOL.

Meanwhile, the Ripple CEO might be featured on Wall Street Memes. The site is popular for featuring “top guns” within the industry in its exciting memes. In recent times, it featured the likes of Changpeng Zhao, Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, and many others whose activities have continued to impact the crypto market. Today, Wall Street Memes has attained widespread popularity on social media, particularly Twitter and Instagram. As a matter of fact, it has been able to earn the interest of some of the featured celebrities.

In a bid to further widen its presence in the industry, Wall Street Memes commenced the token presale of $WSM in May 2023. As of June 10, 2023, it has been able to raise $6 million in investment. Participants in the presale are confident in the future of $WSM and have continued to tip among the next cryptocurrency to flourish. You can also become a participant in one of the best crypto presales by visiting wallstmemes.com.

Brad Garlinghouse’s Net Worth – Our Verdict

Without any doubt, Brad Garlinghouse is one of the influential CEOs in the crypto industry. His wealth of experience as a technological expert, critical thinker, and proficient administrator has helped Ripple become one of the biggest crypto firms around. Despite the ongoing legal turmoil with the SEC, Garlinghouse has been able to keep Ripple on track, ensuring that its operations are not impacted. As of June 2023, the market cap of XRP has soared to $24.95 billion.

One notable attribute of Brad Garlinghouse that is not known to many is his generosity. The Ripple CEO is a cheerful giver and has contributed massively to numerous non-profit projects including Red Cross, Children’s Health Fund, and many more. Just in 2019, he and his lovely wife donated $25 million to the University of Kansas. The institution is their alma mater and the duo felt the fund could help grow its business school.

Definitely, the current net worth of Brad Garlinghouse is a reflection of how successful his career has been. As the CEO of Ripple, he owns a 6.3% stake in the firm, an investment portfolio that helped built his fortune. Unfortunately, the 2022 bear market that stormed the crypto market dipped his net worth. But, as of 2023, the crypto net worth of Brad Garlinghouse is between $400 million to $500 million according to Forbes.

Meanwhile, the overall net worth of Brad Garlinghouse, as of 2023, stands at $9.5 billion.

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