Cathie Wood’s Net Worth in 2024: How Rich Is Ark Invest’s Founder?

Catherine Duddy Wood, popularly known as Cathie Wood, is one of the most influential names in the investing world.

Wood is not your normal asset manager. Her contrarian bets and unyielding resolve in championing disruptive innovation investments has earned her a cult-like following and reputation of a superstar investor.

All the success brought enormous wealth for Wood, who was included in the list of America’s richest self-made women by Forbes magazine in 2021.

How rich is Cathie Wood and what is her net worth in 2024? Let’s find out.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. How Did Cathie Wood Make Her Money?
3. How Rich Is Cathie Wood?
4. What Does Cathie Wood Own?
5. Cathie Wood's Philanthropy
6. The Bottom line
7. FAQs
8. References

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. How Did Cathie Wood Make Her Money?
3. How Rich Is Cathie Wood?
Show Full Guide
4. What Does Cathie Wood Own?
5. Cathie Wood's Philanthropy
6. The Bottom line
7. FAQs
8. References

How Did Cathie Wood Make Her Money?

Cathie Wood is the founder and chief executive officer of investment management firm ARK Investment Management (ARK Invest).

Majority of Cathie Wood’s wealth comes from her profession as an asset manager.

Her investment management firm charges clients management fees (also known expense ratio) when they invest in ARK Invest’s ETFs.

Most ARK ETFs imposed an annual expense ratio of 0.75%, meaning that if you invest $1 million in an ARK ETF, you will pay management fees worth $7,500.

Cathie Wood’s salary is not disclosed to the public.

Early Ventures: From Capital Group to AllianceBernstein

Cathie Wood was born in Los Angeles, California in 1955. She was the eldest child to Irish immigrant parents. Cathie Wood’s education began at the Notre Dame Academy in Los Angeles.

Wood went on to graduate from the University of Southern California in 1981 with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and economics.

Young Cathie Wood got her first job in 1977 at the age of 20 as an assistant economist at Capital Group, one of the oldest investment management firms in the world. She worked at Capital Group for three years.

In 1980, Wood joined investment firm Jennison Associates, where she worked for 18 years holding various designations including chief economist, equity research analyst and portfolio manager, before becoming managing director of the company.

Wood’s next stint was at venture capital firm Tupelo Capital Services where she managed a thematic and macro strategies fund.

In 2001, Wood joined asset manager AllianceBernstein as the company’s chief investment officer. She worked at AllianceBernstein for 12 years before founding her company ARK Investment Management in 2014.

ARK Invest & Disruptive Innovation Investing

Cathie Wood is said to have founded ARK Invest after finding inspiration from reading The One-Year Bible. Her firm’s name is based on the Ark of the Covenant – a wooden chest that contained the Ten Commandments delivered to Moses by God, according to the Bible.

ARK Invest is an US-based investment firm that invests “solely in disruptive innovation.” The firm offers thematic ETFs that invest in cutting-edge technology such as genomic revolution, 3D printing, space exploration, autonomous tech, robotics and cryptocurrencies.

The firm’s flagship fund, the ARK Innovation ETF, has become incredibly popular among investors seeking market-beating returns. The ARK Innovation ETF held net assets worth over $6 billion, at the time of writing.
Today, ARK Invest is one of the most well known investment firms in the world which has helped Cathie Wood’s net worth grow.

To learn which stock Cathie Wood is buying now, you can check ARK Invest’s 13F and 13D SEC filings that are disclosed at the end of each quarter.

How Rich Is Cathie Wood?

Current Net Worth

According to Forbes, Cathie Wood’s net worth was estimated at $250 million in 2020. Cathie Wood’s money nearly doubled to $400 million the following year, Forbes data showed.

The business magazine did not provide data on Cathie Wood’s net worth in 2023 and 2024.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Cathie Wood’s net worth in 2024 was estimated at $220 million.

Factors Affecting Cathie Wood’s wealth

Cathie Wood’s wealth is tied to the performance of ARK Invest’s funds. If ARK’s funds perform well, they attract more investors resulting in higher revenue from management fees for the company.

Wood has also hinted at owning ARK Invest’s ETFs and Bitcoin (BTC) in media interviews.

Therefore, the market performance of these financial instruments will affect Cathie Wood’s net worth.

What Does Cathie Wood Own?

Shareholding in ARK Investment Management

Since ARK Invest is not publicly listed, the company is not obliged to disclose information on its shareholders.

According to a November 2020 article by Barrons, Cathie Wood owned 50% to 75% of ARK Invest at the time.

An official press release by ARK Invest published in December 2020 confirmed that Cathie Wood is the firm’s majority shareholder.

“Innovation” Stocks & Crypto Held by Cathie Wood

In a January 2024 interview with Schwab Network, Cathie Wood said:

“My financial net worth pretty much all of it is in innovation … It’s just that my degree of confidence in the depth of our research gives me the courage to be more aggressive in this realm, either in our kind of funds, private funds or crypto, primarily Bitcoin.”

Cathie Wood said excluding shareholding in ARK Invest and real estate, Bitcoin made up 25% of her net worth.

Real Estate

If you are wondering where Cathie Wood lives, look no further. In 2021, Wood moved ARK Invest’s corporate headquarters from New York to St. Petersburg, Florida.

According to the Tampa Bay Business Journal, Cathie Wood’s house is in downtown St. Petersburg.

There is little public information about Wood’s other real estate investments.

Cathie Wood’s Philanthropy

In other Cathie Wood news, Wood is known to be a devout Christian and a keen philanthropist.

Wood established an educational organization called Innovation Foundation. The organization focuses on educating, mentoring, partnering and funding innovators.

Wood also established the Duddy Innovation Center for Excellence at her alma mater, Notre Dame Academy High School. The program offers young women the chance to explore innovative industries such as genomics, robotics, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology.

Through ARK Invest, Wood supports organizations focused on combating social and economic injustices such as The Woodson Center, The Equal Justice Initiative, The New York Urban League, and The NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The firm also helped raise money to fund rare cancer research led by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

The Bottom line

Cathie Wood’s investment strategy at ARK Invest has often divided opinion. Some deem it too risky while others love the different flavor ARK Invest brings to the market.

Whether you are a supporter or a critic of Cathie Wood, you have to admit that there is nothing like ARK Invest in the investing world.

FAQs