Our mission is to look after the financial best interests of the up-and-coming, beginning with the empowering step of micro-investing.
We come together
from all walks of life, led by the belief that anyone can grow wealth.
Noah Kerner
Chief Executive Officer
Noah Kerner
Chief Executive Officer
Born in New York City’s east village, Noah Kerner is the CEO of the micro-investing app Acorns and co-founder of the shareholder rights startup Say. His background is colorful: 4X entrepreneur, Co-author of "Chasing Cool” with the former CEO of Barneys, and former DJ for Jennifer Lopez. In his 20s, Noah built the leading creative agency for the young adult market, Noise. Before being acquired by Engine, Noise developed hundreds of products and marketing campaigns for this generation including Facebook’s first application, the first credit card to reward responsibility rather than spending for Chase, Vice's music site Noisey, and the top branded game in the App Store. Noah has been recognized as one of Billboard Magazine’s “Top 30 Under 30,” AdWeek’s “Top 20 Under 40,” Fast Company’s “Innovation Agents” and “Impact Council” members, and as a judge for the Webby Awards. He has also advised and invested in a variety of fast-growing startups, including WeWork, where he served as the first Chief Strategy & Marketing Officer from 2013-2014. Passionate about educating today’s youth, Noah has lectured on entrepreneurialism, fintech, and media at NYU, UCLA, Stanford, and Columbia and currently serves on the Board of VH1's Save The Music Foundation. Noah is a graduate of Cornell University where he studied Psychology and Economics.
What's been your best investment?
My apartment in New York City. I love it and it keeps appreciating. That's the best kind of value.
Best financial advice?
Try to never make decisions driven by fear. But since we all get afraid sometimes, I think it's good to just take a long walk in the sun before making a big investment decision.
What dream do you hope investing helps you realize?
I've always hoped investing allows me to get involved in things that bring me pleasure and/or create positive change in the world - whether it's an apartment for myself or a great company advancing society.
What splurge do you wish you could take back (and invest instead)?
I don't really splurge. I've been wearing the same t-shirts since I was 18.
Disclosure: Answers to the Q & A are not meant as investment advice and should not be read as recommendations to buy or sell securities.
David Hijirida
President
David Hijirida
President
Prior to joining Acorns, David was the CEO of Simple Finance, a banking and personal finance app acquired by BBVA USA (now part of PNC Bank). Previously, David was a Director at Amazon for 12 years where he managed product, marketing, engineering, and operations teams across leadership roles in Amazon Global Payments, Amazon Web Services, and Amazon Advertising. David holds an MBA from Wharton School, an MS in Applied Physics from Cornell University, and a BS in Physics from MIT.
What's been your best investment?
By far my best investment has been in my education both formal, in the classroom, and informal, traveling the world and stretching my comfort zone. Investing in yourself is a no-regrets move!
Best financial advice?
Start investing as early and often as possible. It's so much easier to make mistakes or take risks and recover when you are younger than when you are older. However if you are older, it's also never too late to start investing!!
What dream do you hope investing helps you realize?
One of my dreams is to help my community in Hawaii, where my wife and I grew up. We recently moved back to help our family and raise our kids here and I would love to play a part in pushing Hawaii toward a sustainable economy and provide opportunities for folks growing up here to have more options to stay with fulfilling careers.
What splurge do you wish you could take back (and invest instead)?
This is really tough. I had to ask my wife and she was quick to point out that I start a LOT of hobbies that I never finish. So the money to buy all those ukuleles, DJ equipment, and bicycles for every type of terrain could have been put to better use in my investments.
Rich Sullivan Jr.
Chief Financial Officer
Rich Sullivan Jr.
Chief Financial Officer
Rich’s career spans two decades where he has served as a leader in Treasury, Corporate, and Investor Relations at publicly traded companies. Most recently he was the Vice President of Finance at Twitter. Prior to Twitter, Rich held executive positions at AT&T and DreamWorks Animation, where he spent ten years as Deputy Financial Officer helping build the company into the leader of premium family content. While at Dreamworks, the company released the world’s highest-grossing animated film, Shrek 2. Rich holds an MBA from Columbia University and a BA in Economics from Hamilton College.
Jasmine Lee
Chief Operating Officer
Jasmine Lee
Chief Operating Officer
Jasmine has over 20 years of experience in business and finance. Before joining Acorns, Jasmine served as the COO and CFO for all consumer products at PayPal leading strategy, product management, business operations, strategic partnerships, finance and analytics. Jasmine was influential in redefining the PayPal consumer strategy and creating an execution plan that became PayPal’s strategic priority. Jasmine also served as the CFO of Xoom, following the acquisition by PayPal, and led a successful integration to drive synergies and profitable growth. Jasmine spent the first 11 years of her career advising clients in M&A, restructuring, liquidity optimization and audit. She holds a Bachelors degree in Finance from the University of Florida and a Masters degree in Accountancy from the University of Virginia.
What's been your best investment?
PayPal stock I got back in 2013. It has tripled in value.
Best financial advice?
Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Diversify.
What dream do you hope investing helps you realize?
Financial independence and freedom to enjoy retirement and invest in my passion projects.
What splurge do you wish you could take back (and invest instead)?
Every formal gown I purchased for holiday parties.
Disclosure: Answers to the Q & A are not meant as investment advice and should not be read as recommendations to buy or sell securities.
Manning Field
Chief Business Officer
Manning Field
Chief Business Officer
Manning launched market-leading products and programs at JPMorgan Chase like Chase Sapphire, Chase Freedom and Chase Ultimate Rewards, and was named an Ad Age "40 Under 40." He spent four years in Beijing, China, as CMO of JPMorgan Chase's consumer team and while there, founded a local credit card business. During his 18 year tenure at Chase, Manning oversaw many departments including Branding, Advertising, Product Development, Marketing, Corporate Development, Innovation, Sales Strategy, and, lastly, as the Managing Director of Loyalty Innovation. He and his wife have three future Acorns investors.
What's been your best investment?
Walmart. I'm from Arkansas, and I've had Walmart stock since I was a teenager.
Best financial advice?
Identify the things you want to pay a premium for (for me it's dining) and then be hopelessly cheap on most everything else.
What dream do you hope investing helps you realize?
It's really about being in a position where I can pursue my passions with a "!" instead of a "?"
What splurge do you wish you could take back (and invest instead)?
Pretty much any Napa Valley wine club I ever signed up for…
Disclosure: Answers to the Q & A are not meant as investment advice and should not be read as recommendations to buy or sell securities.
Hugh Tamassia
Chief Technology Officer
Hugh Tamassia
Chief Technology Officer
Hugh is a technology executive, product leader, and architect who has built innovative technology at-scale for the world’s largest financial institutions. As Chief Architect and CTO for 14 years at JP Morgan Chase, he led the execution of strategic technology initiatives, including mobile banking, mobile payments, merchant acquiring, customer support systems, and big data. His mobile payments work has earned multiple industry awards, and 5 patents. Working with both large and small companies throughout his career, Hugh has a history of scaling platforms to new levels of potential. He has a BS in Computer Science and an MBA from the University of Delaware, and lives in Wilmington, DE with two future Acorns investors.
What's been your best investment?
My two kids. The financial investment is massive, but the returns are better than anything else I ever committed money to.
Best financial advice?
Just be comfortable living within your means.
What dream do you hope investing helps you realize?
A beach house where I can open the windows and nap to the sounds of the ocean.
What splurge do you wish you could take back (and invest instead)?
I worked in New York and I bought a lot of nice expensive suits. I don’t expect to wear a suit to work ever again.
Disclosure: Answers to the Q & A are not meant as investment advice and should not be read as recommendations to buy or sell securities.
Patricia Gonzales
VP of Human Resources
Patricia Gonzales
VP of Human Resources
Patricia has dedicated 20 years to creating engaging workplaces. Patricia was the first HR hire for Acorns and during her time she has built a values-based culture focused on growth and talent development. Prior to Acorns, she held multiple roles at Experian, including overseeing HR Operations. Patricia earned a bachelors degree in Psychology from UC Berkeley. She currently resides in Irvine with her two future Acorns investors.
What's been your best investment?
My home. Not only does it continue to appreciate in value, it's also the home I plan to raise my family and create many lasting memories in.
Best financial advice?
Start contributing early to a 401(k), but don't stay so laser focused on saving that you forget to enjoy the life that you earned.
What dream do you hope investing helps you realize?
The ability to provide a nurturing and fulfilling life for my children and also live a comfortable retirement.
What splurge do you wish you could take back (and invest instead)?
Every handbag in my closet, whether a splurge or inexpensive, because I use the same one every day.
Disclosure: Answers to the Q & A are not meant as investment advice and should not be read as recommendations to buy or sell securities.
James Moorhead
Chief Marketing Officer
James Moorhead
Chief Marketing Officer
James has a proven record of scaling businesses across multiple industries in the Fortune 50, Fortune 200 and at start-ups. Most recently, as Chief Marketing Officer, James helped build the performance marketing and brand teams at Upstart, the leading AI lending platform. Before Upstart, he was the Chief Operating Officer & Chief Marketing Officer of Metromile, the leading usage-based car insurance business. Prior to joining Metromile, James was Chief Marketing Officer at DISH Network, the telecommunications giant, where he built the customer acquisition team to help accelerate subscription and ARPU growth. James started his career at Procter & Gamble where he led many brands including Old Spice, Gillette, Prilosec OTC, and Vicks. James was named ADWEEK “Grand Marketer of the Year” for his work leading the Old Spice “Smell like a Man, Man” campaign.
James lives in Moraga, California with this wife and three daughters.
What's been your best investment?
Hands down the best investment has been my college education. It made me curious and passionate about learning.
Best financial advice?
Start saving early for your kids' college. Just a small amount every month compounds over time and I have been surprised how quickly it adds up. My father-in-law suggested I start early and now my three daughters will have the opportunity to go to college.
What dream do you hope investing helps you realize?
I love to travel and explore. My dream is to travel the world on a boat with my family.
What splurge do you wish you could take back (and invest instead)?
I bought a hot tub when I was in my 20’s and didn’t contribute to my IRA for several years because I was making payments on the hot tub. If I was thinking long-term I never would have made that decision.
Disclosure: Answers to the Q & A are not meant as investment advice and should not be read as recommendations to buy or sell securities.
Ashley Good
Chief Legal Officer
Ashley Good
Chief Legal Officer
Ashley has over 18 years of legal experience, including 13 years leading in-house legal, regulatory and compliance teams at private equity and venture backed companies. Her business experience in executive roles as Chief Growth Officer of a social commerce startup and Chief Sales Officer at Arbonne, a global health and wellness company, offer her invaluable insight to the needs of her business partners and the customers we serve. While Chief Legal Officer at Arbonne, Ashley was named General Counsel of the Year - Private Company by the Orange County Business Journal and Top 20 Leading In-House Counsel by the Los Angeles Daily Journal. Prior to going in-house, Ashley started her legal career at the global law firm Latham & Watkins, LLP where she focused on securities matters, public company representation, corporate finance transactions and mergers & acquisitions. Ashley attended Duke University School of Law (Juris Doctor), Stanford University Graduate School of Education (Masters in Education) and Stanford University (Bachelors in Human Biology).
What's been your best investment?
Education. Law school is a serious financial investment. It was a proud moment for me when I was able to pay off all my student loans. With my legal degree, I've created a career path with a rich variety of fulfilling professional and personal opportunities I wouldn’t have otherwise.
Best financial advice?
Make a budget and stick to it so you don’t live beyond your means. Having a plan can help reduce stress and allow you to thoughtfully focus on your personal priorities.
What dream do you hope investing helps you realize?
The freedom to travel the world with my family and discover its rich diversity of landscapes and cultures.
What splurge do you wish you could take back (and invest instead)?
I don’t splurge unless I’ve saved and planned for it, so they feel more like rewards for hard work than regrets.
Disclosure: Answers to the Q & A are not meant as investment advice and should not be read as recommendations to buy or sell securities.
Backed by world-class investors, board members and advisors
including two Nobel Prize winning economists.
PayPal
Investor
BlackRock
Investor
Bain Capital
Investor
DST Global
Investor
NBCUniversal
Investor
Comcast Ventures
Investor
Capital Group
Investor
Greycroft
Investor
eVentures
Investor
TPG
Investor
Rakuten
Investor
Sound Ventures
Investor
Ashton Kutcher
Investor
Dany Garcia
Investor
Dany Garcia
Investor
As Founder, Chairwoman and CEO of The Garcia Companies and TGC Management and Co-Founder of Seven Bucks Companies, Dany Garcia is the visionary architect of some of the most successful enterprises, brands and talent. Her immersive global approach within ever-changing landscapes paired with precise instincts have led to unprecedented box office success and innovative business partnerships across verticals.
With unbridled athleticism as a professional bodybuilder, Garcia also flawlessly pioneers her expansive enterprise while competing at the highest level. Her global audience can expect trailblazing initiatives throughout 2020 and beyond, as Garcia continues to keep human needs and experience at the forefront of her endeavors across the spaces of mental and physical wellness, athletics, entertainment, spirits, finance and more.
In 2019, Garcia, in partnership with Dwayne Johnson, announced one of their most ambitious endeavors to date – Athleticon, a first-of-its-kind community-driven virtual experience. The inaugural, eponymous counterpart, an immersive event experience celebrating the very best in athletics, wellness and entertainment will take place in October 2021 in Atlanta. Most recently, Garcia announced her acquisition of the XFL alongside Johnson and RedBird Capital, making her the first female owner of a major professional sports league.
Garcia's passion for bettering the world through socially responsible decisions is consistently reflected in the culture of her teams and the businesses she builds.
Dwayne Johnson
Investor
Kevin Durant
Investor
Gabrielle Sulzberger
Board Member
Gabrielle Sulzberger
Board Member
Gabrielle Sulzberger is a seasoned financial executive with over 30 years of experience assisting public and privately held companies in consumer products, retail, financial services and health sciences.
Until August of 2017, Ms. Sulzberger served as Chairman of the board of Whole Foods, where for 13 years she had previously served as Chair of the company’s audit committee. She currently serves on the board of two other public companies, Tel-Aviv based Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Brixmor Property Group, where she chairs the governance committee. Previously Ms. Sulzberger served on the boards of Stage Stores, IndyMac Bank, and Bright Horizons, and numerous private company boards.
For the past twelve years Ms. Sulzberger has served as General Partner of Rustic Canyon/Fontis Partners, a private equity fund based in Pasadena, California. Prior to joining RC/Fontis, Gabrielle served as CFO of several public and private companies, including Gluecode Software, a venture-backed open source software company which was sold to IBM.
Gabrielle is a Trustee of the Ford Foundation. She also serves on the Boards of the WomenCorporateDirectors Foundation, the National Association of Corporate Director’s Audit Advisory Council, Trinity Church Wall Street and she is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute. In 2014 she was named a Top 100 Director by the National Association of Corporate Directors.
Ms. Sulzberger received her B.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University. She received her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and J.D. from Harvard Law School and is a member of the Massachusetts Bar.
Venu Krishnamurthy
Board Observer
Venu Krishnamurthy
Board Observer
Venu Krishnamurthy, Managing Director, is the co-head of the Aladdin Wealth Tech (AWT) business within BlackRock Solutions. He is a member of BlackRock's Global Operating Committee.
AWT's mission is to transform wealth management through technology and differentiate BlackRock as a strategic partner for our clients. As technology fundamentally reshapes the global wealth management industry, we partner with wealth managers to enhance their value proposition to their end clients, create rigor and scale in their investment process, and grow their businesses in a differentiated way.
Prior to joining BlackRock, Venu was President of Citigold Wealth Management (CWM), in the US where he was responsible for designing client value propositions, leading the national salesforce, and delivering a comprehensive suite of investment products. Venu spent over twelve years at Citi across three different continents and in all three key business lines - Global Wealth Management, Consumer Banking & Institutional Clients Group. Prior to joining Citi, Venu spent a decade in private equity and management consulting, after starting his career as an engineer at IBM.
Venu earned his Bachelor's degree in Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Surathkal and MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
Adam Nash
Board Member
Adam Nash
Board Member
Adam Nash is an independent investor and advisor who most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Wealthfront, where for four years he championed the creation of a new category of automated investment services. While at Wealthfront, the company grew its client base by over 60x, and grew assets under management 45x from less than $100m to over $4 billion.
Nash discovered Wealthfront while working at Greylock Partners as an Executive in Residence, where he advised the leadership teams of the firm’s consumer technology companies and helped evaluate new investment opportunities. Prior to Greylock, Nash was the Vice President of the product management team at LinkedIn. He led LinkedIn's platform and mobile products, including the launch of LinkedIn's open developer platform and their highly successful native applications, as well as mobile web experiences. He is the founder and architect of LinkedIn Hackdays, a seminal program for driving the innovation culture at the company. He also was responsible for leading LinkedIn's search and cloud efforts as well as forming and leading their user experience and design teams.
Before joining LinkedIn, Nash held a number of leadership roles at eBay including director of eBay Express, an innovative new site focused on fixed-priced products. He also held strategic and technical roles at Atlas Venture, Preview Systems, and Apple.
Nash holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science with a focus on human computer interaction from Stanford University.
Source:
https://www.crunchbase.com/person/adam-nash
Shlomo Benartzi
Behavioral Economics Chair
Shlomo Benartzi
Behavioral Economics Chair
Shlomo Benartzi is a behavioral economist interested in combining the insights of psychology and economics to solve big societal problems. He is a professor and co-founder of the Behavioral Decision-Making Group at UCLA Anderson School of Management.
Along with Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago, Benartzi pioneered the Save More Tomorrow™ (SMarT) program, a behavioral prescription designed to help employees increase their savings rates gradually over time. SMarT increased employee savings rates from 3.5 percent to 13.6 percent. The SMarT program is now offered by more than half of the large retirement plans in the U.S. and a growing number of plans in Australia and the U.K. The program has also been incorporated into the Pension Protection Act of 2006, helping millions of Americans boost their retirement savings.
Benartzi has supplemented his academic research with policy work and practical experience. He has advised government agencies in the U.S. and abroad, and has helped craft numerous legislative efforts. He currently serves as chief scientist for the California Digital Nudge Initiative. He has also worked with many financial institutions, served on multiple advisory boards and serves as a senior academic advisor for the VOYA Institute for Behavioral Finance Innovation.
Shlomo received his Ph.D. from Cornell University Johnson Graduate School of Management.
Source:
http://www.shlomobenartzi.com/
Dana Settle
Board Observer
Dana Settle
Board Observer
Dana Settle is a Founding Partner with Greycroft, and she heads the firm’s west coast office out of Los Angeles.
Prior to co-founding Greycroft, Dana spent several years as a venture capitalist and advisor to startup companies in the Bay Area, including six years at Mayfield, where she focused on early stage companies in the mobile communications and consumer Internet markets.
Dana currently manages Greycroft’s investments in Anine Bing, AppAnnie, Bird, Clique, EBTH.com, Steelhouse, TheRealReal, Thrive Market, Voicera, and WideOrbit. She also managed the firm’s investments in Maker Studios (sold to Disney), Viddy (sold to FullScreen), AwesomenessTV (sold to Dreamworks), Digisynd (sold to Disney), ContentNext (sold to Guardian Media), MoVoxx (sold to Motricity), Pulse (sold to LinkedIn), Sometrics (sold to American Express) and Trunk Club (sold to Nordstrom).
Dana also serves as a Board of Director to IMAX Corporation. Her additional experience includes business development at Truveo (AOL), investment banking at Lehman Brothers and international business development at McCaw Cellular Communications (AT&T).
Dana holds a BA in Finance and International Studies from the University of Washington and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Harry Markowitz
Investment Committee Advisor
Harry Markowitz
Investment Committee Advisor
Dr. Harry Markowitz received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1990 for his work on portfolio selection. He is the president of the Harry Markowitz Company, a professor of Finance in the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego, and has served in academic posts at universities including Baruch College, London School of Economics, London Business School, University of Tokyo, Rutgers University, Hebrew University, the Wharton School and UCLA.
Dr. Markowitz is recognized as the founder of Modern Portfolio Theory, and was given the "Man of the Century" award in 1999 by Pensions & Investments magazine for his life's work in the field of investments. He was awarded the prestigious Von Neumann Prize in Operations Research Theory for his work in portfolio theory, sparse matrix techniques and the SIMSCRIPT programming language.
Dr. Markowitz received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago.
After four decades in financial services, Christopher Jones is lending his expertise as an investor and advisor. Previously, he was Co Head of Active Equities at Blackrock, which included its Fundamental and Scientific Equity Divisions, CIO of Fundamental Equities in the Americas, and co-head of Global Fundamental Equities.
Chris spent 32 years at JPMorgan Investment Management, starting as a research analyst, then graduating to project manager and team leader before becoming CIO of Growth and Small Cap Equities, and finally co head of US Equities.
Chris holds an M.A. in History from Cambridge University and is a member of both the New York Society of Security Analysts and The CFA Institute. He is a CFA charterholder.
Richard H. Thaler is the 2017 recipient of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences for his contributions to behavioral economics. Thaler studies behavioral economics and finance as well as the psychology of decision-making. He investigates the implications of relaxing the standard economic assumption that everyone in the economy is rational and selfish, instead entertaining the possibility that some of the agents in the economy are sometimes human. Thaler is the director of the Center for Decision Research, and is the co-director (with Robert Shiller) of the Behavioral Economics Project at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Thaler is the co-author (with Cass R. Sunstein) of the global bestseller Nudge (2008), in which the concepts of behavioral economics are used to tackle many of society’s major problems. In 2015 he published Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics. He has authored or edited four other books: Quasi-Rational Economics, The Winner's Curse: Paradoxes and Anomalies of Economic Life, and Advances in Behavioral Finance (editor) Volumes I and II, and has published numerous articles in prominent journals such as the American Economics Review, the Journal of Finance and the Journal of Political Economy.
Thaler is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Finance Association and the Econometrics Society, and in 2015 served as the President of the American Economic Association. Before joining the University of Chicago faculty in 1995, Thaler taught at the University of Rochester and Cornell as well as visiting stints at The University of British Columbia, the Sloan School of Management at MIT, the Russell Sage Foundation and the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.
Originally from New Jersey, Thaler attended Case Western Reserve University where he received a bachelor's degree in 1967. Soon after, he attended the University of Rochester where he received a master's degree in 1970 and a PhD in 1974. He joined the Chicago Booth faculty in 1995.
