What
Software-based investment management.
Disrupting
Traditional brokerage companies, private banks and wealth managers.
Source: Wealthfront
Headquarters: Palo Alto, Calif.
CEO: Andrew Rachleff
Year Founded: 2008
Number of Employees: 22
Funding: $30.5 million
Key Investors: Index Ventures, Greylock Partners, DAG Ventures and The Social + Capital Partnership
Vital Stats
- Assets have grown 130 percent since beginning of 2013
- Total assets now at $240 million (up from $100 million at year-end 2012)
- More than 100 Facebook employees invest through Wealthfront
- The CEO of retail start-up Bonobos, Andy Dunn, is a client
- The Wealthfront executive team has Silicon Valley (CEO Rachleff co-founded Benchmark Capital), social media (Chief Operating Officer Adam Nash came from Greylock Partners and LinkedIn) and Wall Street expertise:
- Burton Malkiel, renowned economist and author of the book "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," is chief investment officer
- Clients receive up to $10,000 in assets managed for free
- Clients receive an additional $5,000 in free assets under management for each friend referral
On Disruption
"A disruptive product addresses a market that previously couldn’t be served—a new-market disruption—or it offers a simpler, cheaper or more convenient alternative to an existing product—a low-end disruption. It is uneconomic for an incumbent to compete with either type of product, which is why it is such an important advantage."
