Shares of the popular stock-trading app Robinhood rose sharply Wednesday, continuing a two-day rally that doubled the company’s market capitalization and made its billionaire co-founders even richer.
Robinhood’s stock jumped 50 percent in trading Wednesday after rising 24 percent on Tuesday. That boosted the fortunes of the company’s two co-founders, 34-year-old Vlad Tenev and 36-year-old Baiju Bhatt, by $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion, respectively.
According to Forbes calculations, based on Wednesday’s closing price of $70.39, Tenev is now worth $4.3 billion and Bhatt is worth $4.9 billion. (Tenev and Bhatt were valued at $2.9 billion and $3.3 billion, respectively, earlier in the day.)
The pair took the company to the Nasdaq NDAQ +0.4% last Thursday under the ticker symbol “HOOD,” in a failed IPO that saw shares drop 8% on the first day. Until Tuesday, the stock continued to trade below the IPO’s starting price of $38 a share. Since then, the stock has risen nearly 87% in the past two days, boosting Robinhood’s market capitalization from just over $30 billion on Monday to nearly $60 billion on Wednesday.
Robinhood shareholders can thank one of Wall Street’s most popular tech investors for the vote of confidence, followed by the bullish sentiment of Reddit traders.
High-profile investor Katie Wood of ARK Invest, which invests in “disruptive innovations” such as Tesla TSLA +1.2% and manages about $60 billion in assets, has been building a position in Robinhood since the company went public last week. On Tuesday night, the fund bought another 90,000 shares worth more than $5 million.
The endorsement by Kathy Wood, as well as other prominent Wall Street figures such as CNBC host Jim Cramer, who recently endorsed Robinhood, has led to a large number of retail investors buying up Robinhood stock. Robinhood stock options trading also began on Wednesday, contributing to further stock price volatility.
