Finance & Insurance

Cathie Wood

Founder & CEO, ARK Invest, St. Petersburg

Rugged individualist, star investor and social-media sensation Wood chose St. Petersburg for her headquarters upon leaving New York in 2021, while the rest of the relocating financial world opted for South Florida. You don’t stand out by following the crowd. Wood became famous when Ark’s Innovation ETF soared early this decade. Wood’s bold picks in speculative tech stocks paid off, drawing billions in investor cash. Since then, not so much. Morningstar listed Ark atop its list of the top 10 wealth-destroying fund families for the past 10 years. Ark, according to Morningstar, lost $14.3 billion for investors in the past decade. Some investors bailed on her. In Tampa Bay, she’s invested in the community with initiatives such as partnering with schools and backing an innovation center. She remains a must-watch investor whose buys and sells draw lots of attention in the financial media. Ark in June forecast Tesla’s share price reaching $2,600 by 2029 thanks to robo-taxis.

Ron Antevy

Antevy Capital

Mark K. Bennett

Bank of America

Brittany Birken

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

Elisha González Bonnewitz

Fairwinds Credit Union

Kevin Burgoyne

Florida Venture Forum

Timothy Cartwright

Fifth Avenue Family Office

John Corbett

SouthState

Frank X. Dalton

Fulcrum Equity Partners

Doug Davidson

Bank of America

Don Defosset

DJD Group

KERRY C. DUSTIN

FALLS RIVER GROUP

V. RAYMOND FERRARA

ProVise Management Group

JORGE GONZALEZ

City National Bank

Drew Graham

Ballast Point Ventures

Ken Griffin

Citadel

Keith Hoskins

Navy FCU

Dena Jalbert

Align Business Advisory Services

Ryan James

Surety Bank

KEVIN JOHNSON

SUNCOAST CREDIT UNION

Jeffrey Korzenik

Fifth Third Bank

Rodger Krouse

Sun Capital Partners

Martha “Marty” Lanahan

First Horizon Bank

Marc Leder

Sun Capital Partners

Jarrett Levan

BBX Sweet Holdings

AGOSTINHO MACEDO

OCEAN BANK

Roberto R. Muñoz

Global Financial Group

Shirl Penney

Dynasty Partners

Brian Philpot

AgAmerica

Joy Randels

New Market Partners

Robert C. Ritchie

American Integrity Insurance

THOMAS SITTEMA

CONVERSUS

William G. Smith Jr.

CAPITAL CITY BANK GROUP

ADRIA STARKEY

FINEMARK NATIONAL BANK & TRUST

Mario Trueba

First Horizon

Will Weatherford

Weatherford Capital

CHRISTINA “CINA” WELCH

FCCI INSURANCE GROUP

BRIAN WOLFBURG

VYSTAR CREDIT UNION

Cathie Wood

ARK Invest

Andrew Wright

Ally Capital Group