Cathie Wood Net Worth, Crypto and NFT Investments

Cathie Wood is an American business woman and is presently one of the most influential investors. The net worth of Cathie Wood is estimated to be around $600 million. She made most of her wealth through ARK Invest. The firm is an investment management firm with over $60 billion worth of users’ assets under its care.

She created the firm in 2014, leveraging it to invest in various stocks. The firm gained more recognition after its Innovative Fund returned 45% of users’ investments annually. However, the factor behind her success isn’t far-fetched. The millionaire studied Finance and Economics at the University of Southern California. There, she met Professor Arthur Laffer who mentored her and helped Cathie Wood secure her first job.

Cathie Wood is bullish on Tesla and on numerous occasions, she registered confidence in the tendency of the firm to increase in value. The millionaire once predicted that one day, Tesla will be valued at more than $3 billion. The investment portfolio of Cathie Wood contains stocks from firms like Tesla, Block, Coinbase, Zoom, and Exact Science.

Cathie Wood’s Net Worth

Early Life

On November 26, 1955, Catherine Duddy Wood was born in Los Angeles. Her parents migrated from Ireland to the U.S. Cathie Wood is the first child of the family. Before moving to the U.S. Cathie Wood’s father served in the Irish Army. Upon moving to the U.S., he worked with the United States Air Force as a radar systems engineer. Cathie Wood is well-known as a devoted Christian.

Cathie Wood attended an all-girls Catholic High School in California known as Notre Dame Academy. She graduated from high school in 1974. Later, she proceeded to the University of Southern California where she bagged a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and economics. It was during the course of her degree program that she met a popular economist, Professor Arthur Laffer.

Professor Arthur Laffer became a mentor to Cathie Wood during her time at the University. The professor served as an advisor to both Presidents Reagan and Trump. Around 1977, the professor got a job for Cathie Wood at Capital Group as an assistant economist. She worked in the firm for three years before moving to New York City. After relocating to New York City, Cathie Wood got a job at Jennison Associates as a chief economist, analyst, portfolio manager, and managing director. She stayed for over a decade at Jennnison Associates. Wood worked in the firm for 18 years.

In the 1980s, Wood Cathie debated with Henry Kaufman on why she thought interest rates had soared. She left Jennison Associates in 1998. Meanwhile, after her time at Jennnison Associates, Wood Cathie co-founded Tupelo Capital Management alongside Lulu C. Wang in 1998. The firm functions as a hedge fund and is based in New York City. From there, she joined AllianceBernstein as a chief investment officer of global thematic strategies in 2001.

She enjoyed a long stint at the firm, working for 12 years and managing $5 billion. Despite enjoying a glittering career as an investment manager, Cathie Wood came under stern criticism in 2008. Critics faulted some of her investment decisions during the 2007 and 2008 financial turmoil. Then, she was condemned for putting a poor performance compared to the situation of the market during that period. Cathie Wood’s conflicting investment ideology with the leadership of AllianceBernstein brought her stint at the firm to an end. The firm deemed some of her investment decisions too risky, causing them to both part ways in 2014.

Ark Invest

After leaving AllianceBernstein, Cathie Wood founded Ark Invest. The name of the firm symbolizes the Ark of the Covenant belonging to the Israelites as narrated in the Bible. The name of the firm reflected Cathie Wood’s faith as a devout Christian. As of when the firm was founded, Cathie Wood was reading the One-Year Bible. During its first year of operation, the firm launched the first four of its active funds.

These are the Innovation ETF, the Genomic Revolution ETF, the Next Generation Internet ETF, and the Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF. Thereafter, the firm launched the Fintech Innovation ETF, and the Space Exploration & Innovation ETF in 2019, 2021 respectively. Likewise, the firm managed three index funds which were launched across the space of five (5) years. These index funds are the 3D Printing ETF, launched, the Israel Innovative Technology ETF, and the Transparency ETF, launched in 2021.

In 2020, Cathie Wood almost lost the majority stake in the company. One of Ark Invests’ shareholders, Resolute Investment Managers, revealed its interest in acquiring a majority stake in the company. Later that year, Cathie Wood bought out a clause to maintain her grip over the firm as a major stakeholder. Despite that, the firm continued to employ the assistance of Resolute Distribution Services, using the firm to gain funds from Eldridge Industries.

2020 proved to be a successful year for Ark Invest. It made major headlines for the success of its innovation ETF. Around December, Innovation ETF emerged as the largest actively managed ETF. During the period, the ETF had $17 billion in assets under its management. Furthermore, the ETF made a remarkable 170% return in 2020. This growth is reflected in the overall performance of Ark Invest. Owing to that success, On January 11, 2021, the firm emerged as one of the top 10 issuers of exchange-traded funds. By October 2021, the firm relocated its office from New York City to St. Petersburg, Florida.

Due to her controlling stake, Ark Invest heavily reflects Cathie Wood’s investment style. The firm is based mainly on investing in disruptive technology. Some of these technologies are Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Electric Cars, and Robotics. Similarly, the firm prefers to invest in stocks it perceives to have the tendency of increasing in value by two folds within five (5) years.

Cathie Wood predicted that the fields will be major areas of growth and change for the global economy. The investor believes that not all innovation provides the same opportunity. Cathie Wood holds the opinion that investable innovation reduces costs, spans sectors and geographies, and fosters more innovation. However, the successful investor as well believes that pinpointing relevant investments requires both big-picture and good research.

Investment Portfolio

The investment portfolio of Cathie Wood contains some prominent stocks which have impacted her net worth. Tesla leads the host of firms with investment from the investor. Mainly, she has been bullish on Tesla, one of the most valuable automobile firms in the world. At a time around 2022, Ark predicted that the value of Tesla stock will soar to $4,600 in 2026. In 2021, the firm sold some of its Tesla holdings. The move created a division among critics as some termed it as a pursuit for profit. More so, the opposing side referred to it as a shift in position. Nevertheless, the firm still holds some Tesla stock.

Trimble is another top stock on the investment portfolio of Cathie Wood. The firm is an industrial technology organization that helps numerous industries that cut across government, construction, infrastructure, and transportation. Also, the firm designs extended reality innovations for companies in the construction industry. Cathie Woods’ investment in Trimble reflects how the firm perfectly fits into her investment preference.

Cathie Wood also invested in Block, which is previously known as Square. The firm is regarded as a  leader in digital payments. Block is popular for rejuvenating merchant services to allow businesses of any size to accept virtual payments. However, Cathie Wood’s investment in Block remains one of the firm’s largest positions. Despite that, the firm sold some of its Block’s holdings in an attempt to record some profits. During that period, the stock value of Block went up significantly after the firm enjoyed a good earning report.

Further, Ark also invested in prominent crypto exchange, Coinbase. The firm had invested in the firm since it went public in April 2021. Likewise, the maker of cancer diagnostic tools, Exact Sciences is also a beneficiary of Ark’s investment spree. Cathie Wood through Ark also invested in the popular video conferencing platform, Zoom. The usage of the platform soared in early 2020 due to the Covid-19 enforced lockdown.  During this period, the stock of the tech company went up. However, things changed for the firm in 2022, triggering the value of its stock to dip massively. Despite that, Cathie Wood through Ark increased its investment in Zoom by 800,000 shares.

Is Cathie Wood Pro Bitcoin?

Cathie Wood has, over the years, established herself as an influential evangelist of Bitcoin. According to our findings, she has been confident and bullish about the largest crypto by market cap since its early days. The ARK Invest CEO sees Bitcoin as one of the best investments for every wealthy individual seeking to protect their wealth. At a time, Wood hyped Bitcoin as the greatest defence against wealth confiscation caused by rising inflation. She believes the token has the capacity to serve as an insurance mechanism in the evolving world. According to her; “there’s hyperinflation all over the world as their currencies have fallen apart. Those populations need a fallback—an insurance policy like Bitcoin.”

₿𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: @CathieDWood says, “People living in emerging markets with hyperinflation need a fall back option and an insurance policy. They need #bitcoin" pic.twitter.com/a152H5yr2m

— Documenting ₿itcoin 📄 (@DocumentingBTC) February 2, 2023

Occasioned by his massive confidence in Bitcoin, she exposed her asset management firm, ARK Invest to Bitcoin. At the moment, the firm is among the notable institutional holders of Bitcoin shares. Also, ARK Invest also has investments in crypto projects like Coinbase and Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. Recently, the firm approached the Securities and Exchange Commission to grant approval to offer Bitcoin ETF to its customers. But, the regulator rejected the request, citing “fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices.”

Wood wants to encourage better adoption of cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin and Ether. Amid the recent economic downturn that plunged the crypto market into a bearish state, she lauded Bitcoin, Ether and other crypto assets for their resilience. The ARK Invest founder said cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin and Ether function like gold and have demonstrated the capacity to outperform other assets.

She has never doubted the ability of crypto to disrupt the existing system in the finance sphere. Following the 2023 banking crisis, the Bitcoin bull, in an interview, reaffirmed her confidence in cryptocurrencies. She said “they’re going to disrupt the traditional world order. What are Bitcoin and Ethereum doing? I mean by the very fact that they’re being considered flight to safety like gold, that’s really interesting and suggests much broader-based adoption and acceptance than I think most people understand. We would say that there is a flight to safety, certainly led by crypto assets, and it is telling us that the world is transforming and will continue to transform. You cannot stop innovation.”

What thrills Cathie Wood about crypto assets is the fact that they are decentralized, transparent and auditable. This thus means the assets are immune to any form of central failure. She admires the design model of crypto assets at large but gives preferential treatment to Bitcoin.

Why have bitcoin and other crypto assets appreciated during this banking crisis? In our view and in contrast to those in the traditional financial world, many crypto assets face no central points of failure: they are decentralized, transparent, and auditable.

— Cathie Wood (@CathieDWood) March 23, 2023

In a recent talk with a well-known journalist, Anthony Pompliano, Wood said Bitcoin plays significant role in diversifying institutional portfolios. She added that the situation with the crypto has been similar to the evolution in the derivative market. According to her, Bitcoin, just like derivatives, has witnessed numerous regulatory challenges in its quest to thrive. Amid the increasing regulatory risks in the market, she encouraged all investors to conduct research and due diligence before investing their funds.

But, Wood has never allowed the ups and downs in the crypto market to reduce her support for Bitcoin. As a matter of fact, she is even more bullish about the token than ever before. Recently, she tipped the crypto to spike in value in the coming years. In her prediction, Bitcoin will attain “roughly $670,000, something like that, and then by 2030, as we see more use cases and more of these insurance policies taken out against fiscal and policy regimes that are not healthy, we think it could pass $1 million.”

It is worth mentioning that Wood is banking on the advancing technology, use cases and adoption of Bitcoin to make her prediction. She believes the crypto is being misunderstood and undervalued, thus predicting its recovery from the market turbulence. Wood is optimistic that Bitcoin will become a household name like Amazon and tipped it to attain $1 million by 2030. Although this prediction has been greeted with pessimism, particularly by other actors in the industry, it is not in doubt that Wood’s views about Bitcoin and other assets have certainly influenced the investment decisions of several investors. This is due to her established influence and capacity, making many to look up to her opinions.

Crypto and NFT Holdings of Cathie Wood

We can confirm that Cathie Wood holds Bitcoin in her crypto portfolio. At the moment, the exact value of her Bitcoin holdings is unknown. However, we can rely on her revelation that she bought $100,000 worth of Bitcoin when it traded within $250 per one. By calculation, Wood purchased 400 BTC at that time, thereby securing her place as one of the earliest investors in the token.

Wood’s trust in the crypto encouraged her to personally bet on it. The investment has now proven to be worthwhile following the massive upsurge in the token from $250 to millions of dollars. By implication, Cathie Wood must have made millions in profits from the investment, thereby impacting her current net worth. When she appeared on “What Bitcoin Did” podcast in May 2023, the ARK Invest CEO confirmed that she is yet to sell her initial Bitcoin holdings. More so, there are indications that she might have added additional BTC to her personal portfolio. If this is correct, then she will surely make the list of notable Bitcoin investors across the world very soon.

Apart from her personal investment in Bitcoin, Cathie Wood has been able to grow her net worth by leveraging ARK to invest in the crypto. According to our findings, the firm has exposure to Bitcoin through the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). It holds over 5 million GBTC shares worth more than $67 million. Our findings reveal Grayscale as a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group (DCG). The firm is one of the largest holders of Bitcoin, holding at least 3% of the available token. At the moment, its parent firm, DCG which also owns Genesis Global is in a financial mess following the collapse of FTX. Genesis, a crypto lending firm had exposure to the collapsed FTX and the contagion has escalated to DCG and Grayscale. The prevailing situation must have negatively impacted ARK too.

It should be noted that Grayscale is not the only firm with ARK’s investment. Since the beginning of 2023, the asset management firm has also been purchasing the shares of Coinbase, a leading crypto exchange. In March, it bought 301,437 additional shares of the exchange. In total, the firm holds over 9 million shares of Coinbase worth more than $500 million.

Wood might have expressed admiration for NFTs, but there are no indications that she holds the digital collections. Recently, she said NFT will grow to become a significant part of our contemporary world. The ARK CEO has chosen Async Art, an NFT platform as its favourite. Async Art is notable for allowing users to purchase pixes for digital assets. Despite her admiration for the token, she is not seeing ARK entering into such an investment anytime soon.

Crypto Projects Featuring Cathie Wood

There is currently no notable crypto project featuring Cathie Wood. But, due to her proven influence in the industry, there are indications that she will be featured on Wall Street Memes, a meme coin project that has started to overwhelm the market.Despite the wild nature of the meme coin sphere and the increasing number of new projects, only a few have been able to live up to expectations. Among these few is the Wall Street Memes project. Indeed, its token, $WSM has proven its capability of living up to the high expectations of crypto investors. The project recently launched the presale of the token. Within a few minutes of the launch, the token recorded over $150,000 in sales, emerging as one of the best crypto presales. By featuring notable celebrities like Elon Musk, Changpeng Zhao, Joe Biden, and many more, the project is certainly becoming the next big thing in the industry. It is not in doubt that the backing of its committed and reliable community proved decisive in the success of the token, earning it a place on our “next cryptocurrency to explode page.” To join its ongoing presale, please visit wallstmemes.com.

Cathie Wood’s Net Worth – Our Verdict

We break down the net worth of Cathie Wood with a comprehensive assessment of her early life, career and investment portfolio. As a devoted Christian, Wood has always attributed any success or otherwise in her business adventure to God. Our findings show that all her investments dwell in ARK, an asset management firm founded by her. Through the firm, Cathie Wood is able to successfully build her net worth. Today, ARK boasts of over $23 million worth of ETF assets under its management. So we can affirm that the success of this firm has contributed hugely to the net worth of Cathie Wood.

Over the years, Cathie Wood leveraged ARK to invest in several stocks. Today, the asset management firm holds hundreds of thousands of common stocks in over 100 firms. Some of these firms include Tesla INC, Grayscale, Robinhood, Farfetch, Monday.com Ltd, ROBLOX Corp, Teledyne Technologies Inc, Vuzix Corp, Microsoft Corp, Aerojet Rocketdyne, Intercontinental Exchange Inc, MercadoLibre Inc, Nice Ltd, Toray Industries Inc, Coinbase and many more. It is obvious that Wood has shown remarkable interest in fintech, electric vehicles, robotics, AI and blockchain projects through her firm.

We can therefore relate ARK’s financial status to its investments in the aforementioned projects. In Coinbase alone, it holds over 9 million shares, worth over $500 million. More so, the firm holds 5.9 million shares in GBTC. This investment is worth about $67 million. ARK also holds 26,672 stocks, equivalent to about $6 million in Microsoft. ARK’s strength is its ability to channel its investments towards the right initiative, thereby boosting the net worth of its founder, Cathie Wood. It is not in doubt that the future performance of this firm will as well impact the financial status of Wood.

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