Business & IndustryAmerican1955 – present

Cathie Wood

CEO of Ark Invest, innovation-focused investing pioneer

Biography

Cathie Dee Wood (born 1955) is an American investor and the CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Ark Investment Management LLC, an investment management firm she founded in 2011. She is widely recognized for her role in popularizing thematic investing strategies centered on disruptive innovation, including artificial intelligence, genomics, autonomous vehicles, blockchain technology, and energy storage. Before founding Ark, Wood served as Chief Investment Officer of Tusimpel and equity research director at AllianceBernstein. Her bold investment theses and public commentary on emerging technologies have made her a prominent media figure, particularly during the 2020-2021 bull market in growth and technology stocks. While her high-conviction approach has earned her both devoted followers and critics, Wood's influence on retail investor interest in innovation-focused ETFs has been substantial. She is known for her long-term perspective, weekly YouTube investment updates, and her effort to democratize access to innovation-focused investing strategies through her firms' publicly traded funds.

The Name Cathie

Cathie is a modern variant of Catherine, and Cathie Wood represents a contemporary bearer of this classic name, bringing it into the business and finance sphere as a powerful female leader in investment management.

Quick Facts

Cathie

Greek origin

“A friendly, diminutive form of Catherine formalized as a given name, popular in mid-20th-century American culture where nicknames were frequently elevated to official status. The -ie ending conveys warmth, approachability, and youthful charm.”