Cathie Wood
ARK Invest
Profile & Investment Philosophy
Cathie Wood keeps ARK Invest pointed at disruptive innovation, and in Q2 2026 she took that mandate off the public market. Her largest new position is private: SpaceX at $765 million, roughly 5% of a $15.4 billion book, joined by fresh stakes in AI-chip maker Cerebras and nuclear developer X-Energy. Tesla remains the anchor at 7.5% despite a small trim, while AMD was cut nearly in half (-48%) and the genomics sleeve was pared back across CRISPR (-16%), Twist Bioscience (-28%) and Beam (-16%). Nvidia (+33%) and Alphabet (+45%) were added to.
Track Record
Cathie Wood founded ARK Invest in 2014 after AllianceBernstein rejected her thematic ETF concept. The flagship ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) returned approximately 152% in 2020, briefly making Wood the world's best-performing active manager. AUM peaked at roughly $60 billion in early 2021 then collapsed to around $14 billion by 2023 as growth names sold off. Cumulative ARKK return since 2014 inception sits roughly flat through 2026 — investors who bought after the 2020 spike are still under water. ARK's research approach (open-source models, daily transparency) reshaped how ETF managers communicate. Wood was named Bloomberg's best stock-picker of 2020.
Signature Trades
Current Strategy (2026)
Wood's 2026 portfolio doubles down on five disruptive platforms: AI, robotics, energy storage, blockchain, and multiomic sequencing. Top ARKK positions include Tesla (still the largest), Coinbase, Roblox, Roku, Palantir, and a growing AI infrastructure basket. ARK published a 2026 Big Ideas report forecasting AI software revenue compounding at 40%+ annually and projecting Tesla at $2,600 by 2029 on robotaxi and Optimus. New additions include AI-native names and tokenization plays. Wood maintains that productivity gains from AI are deflationary and the Fed has overtightened — she's been calling for aggressive rate cuts since 2023. Bitcoin price target was raised to $1.5 million by 2030 in the latest research note.
BMI Counter-Take
Wood is the most divisive manager on Wall Street and the data supports both camps. Yes, ARKK is roughly flat since 2014 and trails the S&P 500 by 200+ percentage points. Yes, she nailed Tesla and Bitcoin when nobody else would. BMI's view: ARK funds are not portfolios, they're concentrated bets on a single thesis (exponential tech disruption). They belong in a satellite slot, not a core slot. The 2026 Big Ideas targets — $1.5M BTC, $2,600 Tesla — are not analysis, they're marketing. The research is genuinely interesting and worth reading; the price targets are not worth trading on.
Current Portfolio
LATEST 13F 2026-06-30Latest SEC Form 13F filing. Total portfolio value: $15.4 B. Holdings: 191 positions.
| Security | Shares | Δ vs Prev | Value ($) | Portfolio % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Inc. | 2.76 M | -2.5% | $1.16 B | 7.54 % |
| Advanced Micro Devices Inc. | 1.42 M | -47.8% | $823 M | 5.34 % |
| Space Exploration Technologies Corp. | 4.48 M | ★ NEW | $765 M | 4.97 % |
| Tempus AI Inc. | 10.0 M | +4.3% | $581 M | 3.77 % |
| Robinhood Markets Inc. | 5.24 M | -12.8% | $525 M | 3.41 % |
| CRISPR Therapeutics AG | 9.46 M | -16.4% | $516 M | 3.35 % |
| Shopify Inc. | 4.16 M | -0.5% | $475 M | 3.08 % |
| Twist Bioscience Corp. | 4.55 M | -28.3% | $468 M | 3.04 % |
| 10X Genomics Inc. | 10.0 M | -14.6% | $384 M | 2.49 % |
| Amazon.com Inc. | 1.59 M | +17.4% | $379 M | 2.46 % |
SOURCE: SEC Form 13F (2026-08-14). BMI Smart Money Tracker.