Cathie Wood

Cathie Wood
Born	Catherine Duddy 1955
Birthplace	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	CEO and CIO of ARK Invest
Known for	Founding ARK Invest; disruptive innovation investing
Education	University of Southern California (BS)
Spouse(s)	Robert Wood (divorced)
Children	3

Catherine Duddy Wood (born 1955) is an American investor, entrepreneur, and financial executive who founded ARK Invest, an investment management firm focused on disruptive innovation, in 2014. As the firm's chief executive officer (CEO) and chief investment officer (CIO), Wood has become one of the most prominent figures in the exchange-traded fund (ETF) industry, known for high-conviction bets on emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, genomics, robotics, blockchain, and energy storage. Her flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) drew widespread attention for its extraordinary returns in 2020, during which it became the largest actively managed ETF in the United States, surpassing long-established competitors. Wood's career has spanned more than four decades in finance, including senior roles at major Wall Street firms before she struck out on her own in her late fifties. Her investment philosophy, which centers on long-term technological disruption and open-source research, has attracted both fervent supporters and pointed criticism, with the fund's volatile performance record generating significant debate among financial analysts and commentators.

Early Life

Catherine Duddy was born in 1955 in Los Angeles, California. Her family background included an Irish immigrant father who came to the United States and worked in the military through a radar systems division, an experience that reportedly influenced Wood's early interest in technology and innovation. Growing up in the Los Angeles area, Wood developed an early curiosity about economics and markets. Her father's work in engineering and defense technology exposed her to the intersection of innovation and practical application, themes that would later define her investment career.

Wood attended the University of Southern California (USC), where she studied economics and finance. During her time at USC, she came under the mentorship of Arthur Laffer, the economist known for the Laffer curve and supply-side economics. Laffer's emphasis on the role of incentives and innovation in driving economic growth left a lasting imprint on Wood's thinking about markets and capital allocation. She graduated from USC with a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and economics.

Education

Wood earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern California. Her studies at USC focused on economics and finance, and she was influenced by the supply-side economic framework taught by Arthur Laffer, who served as a mentor during her undergraduate years. This academic foundation in economics shaped her later approach to investing, which emphasizes the macroeconomic implications of technological innovation and the compounding effects of disruptive platforms over multi-year time horizons.

Career

Early Career on Wall Street

After graduating from USC, Wood began her career in finance in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a period when few women held prominent positions in the investment management industry. She spent 18 years at Jennison Associates, a New York-based asset management firm, where she worked as chief economist, equity analyst, portfolio manager, and eventually managing director. At Jennison, Wood honed her analytical approach to identifying long-term growth themes in the technology and innovation sectors.

Following her tenure at Jennison Associates, Wood joined AllianceBernstein, one of the world's largest investment management firms, where she served as CIO of global thematic strategies. During her 12 years at AllianceBernstein, she managed approximately $5 billion in assets. Wood's investment focus at the firm centered on thematic and disruptive innovation strategies, but she grew increasingly frustrated with what she perceived as the traditional asset management industry's reluctance to embrace emerging technologies and unconventional analytical methods.

Founding of ARK Invest

In January 2014, at the age of 58, Wood founded ARK Investment Management LLC, known as ARK Invest, based in New York City. The firm's name stands for "Active Research Knowledge," reflecting Wood's commitment to an open-source research model that distinguishes ARK from most traditional asset management firms. The decision to launch the firm came after Wood concluded that established Wall Street institutions were structurally ill-equipped to analyze and invest in disruptive innovation across multiple technology platforms simultaneously.

The founding of ARK Invest was made possible in part by seed capital provided by Bill Hwang, the founder of Archegos Capital Management, who invested in ARK's first four ETFs. Hwang's involvement would later attract scrutiny following the collapse of Archegos Capital in March 2021, though Wood publicly acknowledged his early financial support for the firm.

ARK Invest launched with a suite of actively managed, thematic ETFs focused on areas including genomic revolution, autonomous technology and robotics, next-generation internet, and fintech innovation. The firm's approach was distinctive in several respects: ARK published its research openly, shared its trade data daily, and employed analysts with backgrounds in fields such as molecular biology, computer science, and engineering rather than relying solely on traditional financial analysts.

Rise to Prominence (2017–2020)

ARK Invest's funds initially attracted limited assets and attention, but the firm's performance began generating notice in the financial press from 2017 onward. The ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) produced strong returns that year, driven in part by early and large positions in companies such as Tesla, Square, Roku, and Invitae.

Wood attracted particular attention for her bullish stance on Tesla. At a time when many Wall Street analysts were skeptical of the electric vehicle maker's prospects and its stock was a popular short-selling target, Wood and ARK published research projecting that Tesla's stock price would rise dramatically over a five-year time horizon. This high-conviction bet on Tesla became closely associated with Wood's public identity as an investor.

The year 2020 proved to be a watershed for ARK Invest and Wood personally. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of many technologies that ARK's funds were positioned to benefit from, including telemedicine, e-commerce, digital payments, cloud computing, and genomic sequencing. The ARK Innovation ETF returned approximately 153% in 2020, making it one of the top-performing funds of any type that year.

By December 2020, the ARK Innovation ETF had surpassed the JPMorgan Ultra-Short Income ETF to become the largest actively managed ETF in the United States, a milestone that underscored the scale of investor interest in Wood's strategy. The firm's assets under management grew from approximately $3 billion at the start of 2020 to over $50 billion by early 2021, an extraordinary pace of growth in the asset management industry.

Wood's prominence during this period extended beyond the financial sector. She developed a large following on social media and became a frequent guest on financial news programs. Her willingness to make bold, specific predictions about the future of technology and the stock market—including price targets for Tesla, Bitcoin, and genomics companies—distinguished her from many institutional investors who tended to communicate in more guarded terms.

ARK Invest also expanded its product suite during this period. In January 2021, the firm filed for and launched the ARK Space Exploration & Innovation ETF (ARKX), which invested in companies involved in space-related technologies and exploration. The announcement alone was sufficient to move stocks across the space industry. ARK's investments also included a significant position in Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company founded by Richard Branson, to which ARK provided a substantial financial boost.

Downturn and Criticism (2021–2023)

The period following ARK Invest's peak in early 2021 proved challenging. As the Federal Reserve began signaling and then implementing interest rate increases to combat inflation, high-growth and speculative technology stocks—the core of ARK's portfolio—experienced sharp declines. The ARK Innovation ETF fell dramatically from its February 2021 highs, losing a substantial portion of its value over the subsequent two years.

The fund's performance drew significant criticism from financial analysts and commentators. Morningstar, the investment research firm, designated the ARK Innovation ETF as the third-highest "wealth destroyer" among investment funds from 2014 to 2023, estimating that the fund had lost US$7.1 billion of shareholder value over that ten-year period. This metric reflected not only the fund's price decline but also the timing of investor inflows, which disproportionately occurred near the fund's peak valuations in late 2020 and early 2021, meaning many investors bought in at high prices and experienced the subsequent downturn.

During this period, Wood faced scrutiny for maintaining and even increasing her fund's exposure to companies whose stock prices were declining, a strategy consistent with her stated long-term investment philosophy but one that amplified losses in the near term. She remained publicly steadfast in her conviction that the underlying technologies—artificial intelligence, genomics, blockchain, robotics, and energy storage—would ultimately deliver transformational returns over a five-year investment horizon.

Wood also experienced a corporate control dispute related to ARK Invest's ownership structure. The resolution of this dispute in late 2020 was described by Wood as lifting a cloud over the firm's future.

Investment Focus on Genomics and DNA Innovation

A distinctive element of Wood's investment philosophy has been her focus on genomics and DNA innovation companies. ARK Invest's Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG) concentrated on companies involved in gene editing, gene therapy, molecular diagnostics, agricultural biology, and other applications of genomic science. Wood argued that advances in CRISPR gene editing, next-generation DNA sequencing, and related technologies represented a convergence of biology and technology that would create significant investment opportunities.

Recent Activity (2025–2026)

As of early 2026, Wood and ARK Invest have continued to actively manage their portfolio with a focus on companies positioned within artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency, and fintech sectors. In February 2026, ARK increased its exposure to CoreWeave, a cloud infrastructure provider focused on AI workloads, purchasing approximately 35,600 shares across its funds shortly before the company's earnings report.

ARK also invested approximately $24 million in Figma, the collaborative design software company, as part of a broader portfolio adjustment that included trimming positions in DraftKings. The firm has maintained and expanded its position in Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), reflecting Wood's continued conviction in the semiconductor company's role in AI infrastructure.

Wood has also continued to build positions in cryptocurrency-related stocks. In early February 2026, ARK purchased over $70 million worth of crypto-adjacent equities during a Bitcoin price decline, including approximately $32.7 million in Robinhood stock, $14.6 million in CoreWeave, $9.4 million in Circle, and other positions. This approach of buying during price declines—commonly known as "buying the dip"—has remained consistent with Wood's publicly stated investment strategy of accumulating positions in high-conviction names during periods of market weakness.

Personal Life

Wood was married to Robert Wood, with whom she has three children. The couple later divorced. Wood has spoken publicly about her Christian faith and its role in her life and investment philosophy, stating that she views her work in investing as aligned with her spiritual beliefs about innovation and human progress.

Wood has described her typical workday as beginning early in the morning with extensive reading and research. She has been noted for her disciplined daily routine, which involves reviewing market data, research reports, and communications with her analytical team before markets open.

Wood has been open about her political views. She publicly supported Donald Trump and expressed concern that certain policy directions under a Joe Biden presidency could stifle innovation, particularly in areas such as autonomous vehicles and other emerging technologies.

Recognition

Wood's career and investment record have generated significant media attention and public recognition. In 2020, Forbes included Wood on its list of "America's Self-Made Women Founders Over 40," recognizing her for building ARK Invest from the ground up later in her career when many fund managers would have remained at established firms.

Barron's profiled Wood extensively in March 2021, describing how she had disrupted the investment management industry with her open-source research model, thematic ETF strategy, and willingness to diverge from Wall Street consensus. The publication noted that her approach—combining daily transparency in trading activity with long-term thematic investment—represented a departure from the conventions of the asset management industry.

Bloomberg News and the Financial Times covered Wood's rise extensively, with Bloomberg noting in September 2020 that a key element of ARK's success was Wood's recruitment of a diverse team of analysts with non-traditional backgrounds, including expertise in fields such as genomics, computer science, and industrial engineering rather than solely in finance. The Financial Times also provided in-depth coverage of ARK's investment strategies and performance.

Wood became a widely followed figure on social media platforms, where her commentary on market trends, technology innovation, and specific stock picks attracted a large audience of retail investors. Her prominence during the 2020–2021 period of market enthusiasm for growth and technology stocks made her one of the most recognizable figures in the American investment industry.

Legacy

Wood's impact on the investment management industry has been characterized by several structural innovations. Her decision to make ARK Invest's research freely available, to publish daily portfolio transactions, and to employ analysts from scientific and technical disciplines rather than exclusively from finance backgrounds represented a challenge to the traditional asset management model, which has historically guarded proprietary research closely.

The success and subsequent struggles of ARK Invest have also contributed to broader debates within the financial industry about the merits and risks of thematic, high-conviction growth investing versus more diversified approaches. The concentration of ARK's portfolios in a relatively small number of high-growth companies amplified both the fund's returns during favorable market conditions and its losses during periods of rising interest rates and rotation away from growth stocks.

Wood's willingness to found ARK Invest at the age of 58, after being turned down by her previous employer when she proposed a disruptive innovation strategy, has been cited as an example of entrepreneurship and risk-taking later in career. Her prominence has also drawn attention to the underrepresentation of women in senior investment management roles, as she remains one of relatively few women to have founded and led a major investment management firm.

The long-term assessment of Wood's investment record and legacy remains a subject of ongoing debate. Supporters point to ARK's early identification of transformative technologies and companies that subsequently achieved significant scale, while critics point to the fund's volatility and the timing mismatch between investor inflows and subsequent performance. ARK Invest continues to operate as an active participant in public markets, with Wood maintaining her role as the firm's primary investment decision-maker and public spokesperson as of early 2026.