Cathie Wood

Catherine Wood, known as Cathie Wood, is one of the most influential women in the United States, an American investor, founder and CEO of ARK Invest. In 2014, Wood founded ARK Invest to revolutionise the world of active stock portfolios by transforming them into exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Cathie Wood was born on 26 November 1955 in Los Angeles, USA, to Irish immigrants. Wood graduated from the University of Southern California in 1981 with a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics.

After graduation, she worked at Capital Group in Los Angeles as an assistant economist before joining Jennison Associates, where Wood held various positions for 18 years, including chief economist, equity analyst, portfolio manager and director. In 1998, she co-founded Tupelo Capital, a hedge fund, and in 2001 joined AllianceBernstein as a portfolio manager and case study strategist, managing over $ 5 billion in assets.

After leaving her high-paying job at the age of 57, Wood founded ARK Invest in January 2014. The firm’s name, which means «ark», symbolises its approach to investing, focusing on disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics, energy storage, DNA sequencing, blockchain and autonomous vehicles.

Initially, Wood personally covered all expenses, including salaries for analysts, and ARK Invest did not even have an office for some time. However, in 2017, ARK Invest’s assets grew 10-fold. A year later, Cathie Wood received recognition and her name was included in the Bloomberg 50 list.

ARK Invest specialises in investing in high-tech start-ups that many consider to be too risky. The company focuses on innovations related to the fintech industry, space exploration, genomic technologies, next-generation internet, robotics, 3D printing and cryptocurrencies.

Wood is known for her support of Tesla and its founder Elon Musk. She predicted that Tesla shares would rise in value, which was later confirmed. Wood’s investment approach differs from traditional methods, as she does not avoid risky technology companies and advocates a more progressive view of investing.

Cathie Wood is also active in social media, participating in podcasts, giving interviews and maintaining social media pages. She is considered one of the most influential women in the US in the field of investment.